Couscous and Feta Stuffed Eggplant

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We've had this dish on several occasions, and it's always a hit with both of us. The red pepper and apple add some nice sweet notes to the couscous stuffing, and the feta gives the whole dish a nice salty kick. Oh, and don't skip the sherry vinegar. It adds an little bit of acidity that the dish needs in order to come alive. All of this and pine nuts, too -- it's becoming our new weeknight staple!

I eat mine skin and all while A. scoops each bite from the eggplant skin. There is no right or wrong way to eat this Mediterranean-inspired dish. It's a good thing to make for the family or bring to a dinner party with friends.

We made these from the last eggplants to come out of the family garden. Now all of the tomato, eggplant, cucumber, and pepper plants that provided us with so much summer produce have been added to the compost pile, and Steve has planted loads of cabbage that will do well over the winter.

Couscous and Feta Stuffed Eggplant

4 Italian eggplants (or small American eggplants)
1 box Near East Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Couscous (available at Whole Foods)
1 1/2 cups diced red pepper (about 1 large)
1 cup diced Gala or Pink Lady apple (peeled, about 1 medium)
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup chopped curly parsley
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Cracked black pepper  (to taste)
4 ounces feta (diced, about 1 cup)
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup 2% Greek yogurt (to garnish)

Prepare the eggplants using THIS quick and reliable method from Fine Cooking. Set aside the roasted eggplants to cool. This step can be done ahead of time, and the eggplants can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Make the couscous according to package directions. In a large mixing bowl, combine the couscous, red pepper, apple, vinegar, pine nuts, parsley, crushed red pepper, cracked black pepper, feta, and eggs. Mix until all ingrediens are incorporated. 

Using your hands, stuff the eggplants. Gently press the couscous mixture into the eggplant until a mound of filling is firmly packed into the baked eggplant. Place onto a 
parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat until all filling has been used. If you have a little extra, just bake it in an oven-proof dish as a pre-meal snack.

Bake stuffed eggplants for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm with a dollop of Greek yogurt. (Makes 4 servings.)

Vegetarian Mulligatawny: Indian-Inspired Vegetable Stew

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Different versions of this spicy, rich Indian stew have been bouncing back and forth between us and our friend Michael from Midtown Stomp. I talk about him a lot here because he's a great friend and really talented with flavors of all kinds. He even has a really cool recipe for Oyster Mushroom Rockefeller in our upcoming cookbook. It was his innovation to add dried cherries instead of boring old raisins and also a dash of cinnamon to the mulligatawny. These additions really upped the ante.

To take it one step further, we've added a simple-but-hugely-flavorful homemade curry paste that easily comes together in the work bowl of your food processor. I stumbled upon this method while developing our Gumbo recipe and thought it would work well here -- and it did! I ate this stew for dinner one night, lunch the next day, and then had it with a poached egg on top for breakfast the following morning. That's how seriously good it is.

Veg mulligatawny goes great with our homemade Whole Wheat Naan. You can serve it on top of rice or eat it just how it is. Your call. 

Vegetarian Mulligatawny: Indian-Inspired Vegetable Stew

1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger
8 cloves garlic (peeled)
1 medium tomato (cored)
2 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon sambal
1 tablespoon cane sugar (like Whole Foods 365 brand)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter (like Whole Foods 365 brand)
1/2 cup lentils
3 cups vegetable broth (more if needed, like Whole Foods 365 brand)
1 tablespoon soy sauce (we like Bragg's)
1/2 cup chopped dried cherries
1 medium Russet potato (peeled and diced)
1 medium green pepper (peeled and diced)
1 medium head of cauliflower (broken into florets)
4-5 medium carrots (diced)
1 can coconut milk (like Whole Foods 365 brand)
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)
1 cup salted whole cashews (to garnish)
1/2 cup cilantro leaves (to garnish)

Into a food processor place the onion, ginger, garlic, tomato, curry powder, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, sambal, sugar, and vinegar. Blend until a loose paste forms and all ingredients are throughly blended. 

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, melt the butter and add the curry paste. Cook, stirring frequently, until most of the moisture has evaporated and the paste becomes very thick. Add the lentils, broth, and soy sauce. Stir, cover, and allow mixture to cook for 10 minutes to soften the lentils. Add the cherries, potato, pepper, cauliflower, carrots, and coconut milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are tender. Serve garnished with cashews and cilantro leaves and add a side of naan. (Makes about 3 1/2 quarts or about 6 servings.)

Better Jalapeño Poppers

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Vegetarians don't need another reason to eat another absolutely scrumptious bread/cheese combo, but here goes: like pizza, grilled cheese, cheese toast, cheese and crackers, and even fondue, this spicy combo is a total winner. 

The Chubby Vegetarian version of this omnipresent bar snack, the jalapeño popper, is "better" because it's crunchier, more delicious, and un-fried, unlike its greasy predecessors. Why, they're so simple to put together that you could make 'em with one hand tied behind your back. 

So what are you waiting for? Turn on your little sports game and eat these jalapeño poppers like a sophisticated man...with a fork.

Better Jalapeño Poppers

4 large or 6 medium jalapeño peppers (halved lengthwise, seeds removed)
2 ounces neufchâtel cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chipotle pepper powder
Zest of 1/2 lime
1 large egg (beaten)
3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon olive or canola oil
Sour cream and fresh chives (to garnish)

Place the seeded, cut peppers cut-side-up on a parchment lined baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix the neufchâtel, cheddar, garlic, cumin, chipotle, and lime zest together until well incorporated. Divide the mixture among the peppers by stuffing them until the mixture is even with the cut. 

In a medium bowl mix the egg with the panko until well incorporated. Place the mixture atop the cheese stuffed peppers until all of the panko is used. Drizzle peppers with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until  golden brown. Garnish with sour cream and chives and serve immediately. (Makes 8 to 12 poppers.)

Happy New Year from The Chubby Vegetarian!

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This year has been krazy. Seriously, there was so much to be thankful for and also so many unexpected events on both ends of the scale. Reminiscing about 2012 just makes our heads spin. During all of the activity, there remained one constant: we ate some good food that we made right here in the Chubby Vegetarian kitchen. All of it was inspired by our friends, family, great chefs, and amazing ingredients. We even got to venture out of our kitchen a few times in order to share what we like to make with some appreciative folks.

We have learned so much from your feedback and comments, and we're really glad you are here with us in numbers that we never could have imagined when we started this blog back in 2008. We hope you stick around to see what we cook up in 2013. We have a lot to look forward to this year (our book The Southern Vegetarian is coming out in May!), but before we look ahead, we thought we'd revisit some of our most popular dishes (#1-3) and our personal favorites (#4-15). Here is our top 15 from 2012:

1. Vegetarian Meatballs
2. Spicy Quinoa + Black Lentil Salad with Avocado Vinaigrette
3. Smoked Coconut Bacon
4. Miracle Mushroom Gravy over 3-2-1 Drop Biscuits
5. Vegetarian "Midnight Snack" inspired by Restaurant Iris
6. Peanut Butter Swirl Greek Fro-Yo (and a little magic)
7. Super-Moist Banana Muffins
8. Pizza Fritta + Vegetarian Bolognese & Smoked Provolone
9. Sweet Potato Piccata (inspired by The Publican)
10. Vegetarian Mulligatawny: Indian-Inspired Vegetable Stew
11. Vegetarian Shiitake Ramen
12. Better Jalapeño Poppers
13. Cocoa-Hazelnut and Vanilla-Hazelnut Spreads
14. Vegetarian Eggplant Tajine (oil-free and vegan)
15. Mascarpone Banana Pudding (In a Jar)

Wishing y'all a wonderful 2013! We can't wait to see this brand new year unfold, and we can't wait to cook some new stuff and share it all with you.

A Really Good Pot of Black-Eyed Peas + Cornbread Waffles & Collard Greens

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Okay, so the diet doesn't really start until tomorrow, so this warm dish of cornbread waffles, smoky black-eyed peas, and collard greens may be just the thing for tonight's dinner. It's a tradition in the South (and in parts of the Midwest, from what we understand) to eat black-eyed peas for good luck in the coming year. We also have greens to represent money or wealth. We have both eaten black-eyed peas and cornbread on New Year's Day every year since birth. It's not that we are particularly superstitious -- we just don't want to tempt fate.


We think our recipe for Collard Greens with Honey, Shallots, and Mushrooms is great because it's so easy. The greens are blanched in super-salty water to leach out any bitterness, and then they are sautéed with a touch of honey. Our Smoked Cheddar and Jalapeño Cornbread is good enough to star on the cover of our cookbook! This time, we cooked the very same recipe in the waffle maker for 3 1/2 minutes. This recipe will make 7 to 8 waffles. We recommend using both of these recipes when putting this dish together. 
To serve, place 1/2 a waffle on a plate, pile on the peas, greens, and plenty of the broth from the pot. Lean the other half of the waffle up against the mountain of peas, and garnish with plenty of hot sauce. (Serves 6.)

A Really Good Pot of Black-Eyed Peas
1 one-pound bag of dried black-eyed peas (soaked overnight*) 
1 tablespoon unsalted butter 
1 white onion (diced)
1 portobello mushroom (diced)
1 green pepper (diced)
2 chipotle peppers (minced)
1 1/2 quarts vegetable broth
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
sea salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)



In a large soup pot over medium high heat, melt the butter and sauté the onion and mushroom until most of the liquid has evaporated and the onion has started to brown. Add  the green pepper, chipotle peppers, vegetable broth,  ketchup, soaked and drained black-eyed peas, and salt and pepper to taste to the pot and stir. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Serve with cornbread waffles and greens.(Makes 2 1/2 quarts.) *Quick-soak method: Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add dried peas, cover, turn the heat off, and allow them to soak for 1 hour.

Pig Candy-Candied Bacon

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So, it's ridiculous, really, the idea that you could win a bake off with candied bacon. And yet I did !

I wasn't going to bring it, but I love this stuff so much, I wanted to share it with my coworkers. Making this is truly a labor of love, and I made a two pound batch so that everyone would have a taste. My idea was that I would put it out on the sample table, go sing some Christmas carols, then come back and take a photo to post on my blog...this is what I returned to.



So, there are no pretty photos of the finished product this time, but let me tell you, it was a smashing hit. Our contest at work has three categories you can win, Best Dessert (non-cookie), Most Traditional, and Most Unique. Some people voted for the Pig Candy in all three categories ! Crazy. And although it is time consuming, it isn't difficult, so add it to your list of holiday goodies today !








Pig Candy 


1 pound thick cut bacon, cutinto 2 inch pieces 1 ½ cups brown sugar 2 tablespoons maple syrup (thereal kind) ¼ cup rice wine vinegar 1 teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 375. Cover ajelly roll pan with foil. Place a baking rack (I use a cookie cooling rack) ontop of the pan.  Mix together the sugar, syrup, vinegar and pepper untilit is a thick glaze. Place bacon pieces on the pan, and bake for 7 minutes.Brush each piece generously with the glaze and return to oven. Bake for 7minutes, remove from oven and turn bacon over. Brush again, glaze generouslyand bake for an additional 7 minutes. Repeat this process until the bacon iscrispy and well glazed. Cool on wax paper, and eat ! Each pan will takeapproximate 30-35 minutes to complete.

Dark Chocolate Orange Cookies

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We received a gift of a very large box of oranges and grapefruit from some very dear friends who had visited Florida this winter. Since there are only two of us, there was no way we could possible eat them all, so I needed to get cookin'! I wanted to find a way to use some of them in my holiday baking. Ray suggested a dark chocolate orange cookie, because this is one of his favorite flavor combinations. 
I used my usual chocolate chip cookie recipe, and started creating from there. The addition of the citrus gave the cookies some amazing loft and a fluffiness I wasn't expecting. I can only assume the acid in the orange juice reacted with the baking soda. This is really an unusual texture and taste, they are delicious!

Dark Chocolate Orange Cookies

2 sticks butter (1 cup) softened
3 oranges, zested and juiced (juice should not be more than 1/2 cup)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 to 4 cups all purpose flour
1 package dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together the butter, eggs and orange juice and zest. Add in eggs, vanilla and sugar and continue to mix until well combined. Slowly add dry ingredients. Mix together until dough is not sticky to the touch, but not crumbly. Stir in chocolate chips. Form into one inch balls, and drop on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until just golden on top. Remove and let rest on pan for 2 minutes, then remove to racks to cool. Makes approximately 4 dozen.