Twist on the TBM

For two weeks in a row we've gotten lemon-basil. It has a totally delicious smell of both lemons and basil and I just couldn't decide what I wanted to do with it. I'm not in the mood for pesto, plus I can't eat the pesto fast enough before it goes bad (I've tried freezing it too but it's just not the same - when you want fresh pesto, you want it fresh, not frozen!). So, I decided to try making a homemade vinaigrette. After I made the vinaigrette, I figured - why not drizzle some over a tomato mozzarella salad since I have plenty of tomatoes. So, that was my lovely appetizer tonight. Picture to be posted later - I'm working on a temporary computer and I can't figure out how to upload a photo!!

Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
About 1/2 cup of lightly chopped basil or lemon basil leaves
1/4 of a medium sized onion or a shallot, lightly chopped
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
~1/4 cup red wine vinegar
~1/2 cup EVOO

--> This is an eye-ball type recipe. Basically, you put the basil, onion/shallot, mustard, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until everything is combined and chopped more finely. Scrape the sides and then add the vinegar. I probably added a little more vinegar and a little less EVOO but it's all to your liking - you can't go wrong here - well, try not to have too heavy a hand with the liquids or you'll have super soupy dressing... Pulse a few more times after the vinegar is added then slowly add in the EVOO while pulsing - be careful the mixture can splatter out. Once you are done adding the EVOO blend a little more and that's it.

1 Eggplant, 2 Peppers, 1 Leek, 1 Tomato

Yes, that is what I ate for dinner. It sounds blah, but it was delicious. Maybe that is also a lot of vegetables for 1 person to eat all in 1 meal, but I don't really care. I also don't have a picture of this one because it basically just looked like a veggie stir fry... but I used a splash of red wine vinegar that just brought out the deliciousness of the fresh vegetables. Also, since I live in NYC, I don't have a BBQ, but I do have a great grill pan which is what I used to grill the veggies.

Summer Vegetable Griller with Red Wine Vinegar

1 light green pepper
1 red pepper
1 medium eggplant
1 medium leek
1 medium tomato (I think mine was a roma)
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt & pepper
EVOO

--> I sliced the peppers into big pieces and then placed them on the grill pan over medium-high heat. Then I sliced the eggplant in smaller chunks (make rounds and then cut each round into 6 littler pieces) and also added to the grill pan. Sprinkle with salt & pepper then let them grill for about 10 minutes, turning over once or twice.

--> After the pepper and eggplant have been grilling about 10 minutes, I heated some EVOO in a medium pan that would fit all the veggies eventually. I added the sliced up leeks and then about 5 more minutes into the grilling (so ~15 min total) I started to add the diced eggplant into the pan with the leeks. I let the pepper grill a little while longer because I like my grilled peppers really grilled. Finally once the pepper, leek and eggplant are all in the pan together, I diced up the tomato and added it in. Mix the vegetables together well, sprinkle with salt & pepper and then add the red wine vinegar after a couple of minutes. Mix a little more and then you're ready to eat. I ate my veggie mix over some pearl couscous. Delicious and super healthy.