Roasted eggplant tastes great, is low-calorie and can be used in a variety of dishes.

I improvised this dish one night using ingredients I had on hand. The taste is savory, sweet, and comforting. And it’s something that can be whipped up in about half an hour.

Ingredients:

• 1 Eggplant (Make sure it’s firm, shiny and a dark purple. This is key, as I don’t believe in salting eggplant and draining it to get out the bitterness. If you buy a perfectly ripe eggplant without bruises, it won’t be bitter.)
• Mushrooms (about 8 oz.), fried in olive oil, salt and pepper. I like to also add a sprinkling of dried or fresh nepitella. But since that’s hard to come by, you could also use a combination of basil and mint.
• Cream cheese (About 2 or three tablespoons; just enough to mix in with the cooked mushrooms).
• Sun-dried tomatoes in oil (1 jar).
• Arugula (About a cup)

What I did:

Wash and peel the eggplant vertically, leaving vertical, purple stripes.

Cut thin (About 1/4 of an inch) round disks of the eggplant.

Brush on olive oil and salt on both sides. Bake in a 400-degree oven on a cookie sheet. Brown on one side and then turn over. This should take about 15 minutes for each tray of eggplant. Set aside.

Mix cream cheese into cooked mushrooms.

Top an eggplant slice with a couple of tablespoons of the mushroom mixture.

Top this with a few slices of sun-dried tomatoes in oil. And then top that with a few leaves of arugula. And top it all off with another slice of eggplant.

You can serve it as is, or heat it up in a hot oven for just a minute before serving.

Serve this with roasted broccoli or other roasted vegetables if you wish to make dinner a total vegetarian treat.

A light and fluffy treat.

If you have 30 minutes before the gang wakes up, try this easy popover recipe. They’re great with butter and jam for a breakfast or brunch treat, but also good to have with dinner.

The scary part is you can’t open the oven to check on how they’re doing. You have to have faith. And this being Sunday, what better day is there to make this recipe?

Ingredients:

• Eggs (2 large)
• Milk (1 cup)
• Butter (1 tbspoon)
• Flour (1 cup)
• Salt (1/4 tsp.)

What I did:

Butter muffin pans.

Mix all of the ingredients until thoroughly blended, but don’t overdo it.

Half fill the muffin tins and put them in a cold oven.

Turn the oven on to 450 degrees and bake for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes.

DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN WHILE THEY COOK, OR THE POPOVERS WILL FALL.

Remove from pan and serve with butter and/or jam. Makes 8 to 10 popovers.

Find more recipes in the Food section.

This quiche is good for Sunday brunch, lunch or dinner.

Here’s a quiche recipe, made from scratch, that surprisingly takes less than 45 minutes to make.

I made this the other night when I made the Irish Soda Bread. It’s in the same issue of Gourmet Magazine from March, 1994. And I served them both together. (Note: This recipe serves just 2, so I doubled it and made two quiches to serve 4)

Ingredients/Shopping List:

All-purpose flour (1/3 cup)

Unsalted butter (3 tbsp., cold)

Vegetable shortening (1 tbsp., cold)

Ice water (1 1/2 tbsp, plus more if necessary)

Red bell pepper (1/3 cup sliced)

Olive oil (1 tbsp.)

Fresh spinach leaves, washed and trimmed (2 cups packed, or about 5 ounces)

Large eggs (2)

Heavy cream or milk (1/3 cup)

Feta cheese, crumbled (1/3 cup)

What I did:

I followed the recipe here.

Find more recipes in the Food section.

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