Fresh Eggplant Bruschetta

Bruschetta is easily one of my all-time favorite appetizer!

It’s eggplant season! I love this pretty, versatile vegetable and coming up with new ways to use it. Once you make this bruschetta, it will become an easy go-to for using up summer tomatoes and eggplant for years to come.

If you’re looking for a more substantial meal add this as a topping to your favorite pasta!

INGREDIENTS

• Extra Virgin olive oil
• Two 1-pound eggplants, chopped
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1/4 cup packed basil leaves, coarsely shredded
• One pint cherry tomatoes 
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• salt & pepper to taste
• pinch of sugar
• 1 loaf French bread, 1/2 inch slices
• Freshly grated Parmesan

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. 

Add in the diced onion and eggplant and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until the eggplant is tender, stirring frequently. Add in the garlic, red pepper flakes and basil leaves half way through cooking.

Add the cherry tomatoes to the eggplant. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. 

Cover the pan, wait for the tomatoes to burst for about ten minutes. Squish any whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon and let the tomatoes thicken, about 1 minute. 

Stir in the capers and stir to combine. 

Taste and add the salt & pepper if needed. 

Heat the broiler. 

Brush the bread slices with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese on both sides. 

Char the bread on both sides.

Spoon the bruschetta onto the bread and top with grated Parmesan and remaining basil leaves. Dig in!

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Honey Orange Glazed Grouper

This Honey Orange Glazed Grouper is a citrusy sweet recipe that I guarantee you’ll have on repeat. A quick and delicious dinner that will be  on the table in no time! Perfect for a healthy lunch, weeknight dinner or a dinner party! To make this easy fish dinner you need less than 30 minutes, isn’t it great?

And it keeps getting better and better! You can use this sauce for just about anything from fish, shrimp, chicken or as a salad dressing. It’s very versatile and delicious!

I love experimenting with new marinades and sauces. And really love using orange marmalade in my homemade salad dressings so I figured it would be great in this recipe. The outcome? Amazingly delicious! You’ll want to drizzle the sauce on all your side dishes too. So I recommend pouring about ¼ cup of the prepaped sauce into a separate bowl and save for the table. 

What to serve with this dish?

Cold Zucchini noodle salad or steamed Broccoli, pan fried Asparagus.

Want a starch? Couscous or rice are also great choices, but anything will do as long as you like it.

Grab a bottle of Scout and Cellar 2019 FIELDHOUSE WHITE BLEND and you have yourself one delicious meal! The taste? Under ripe peach, under ripe apricot and white flowers with refreshing acidity that hangs on so the wine finishes clean; as the wine warms, notes of pear and honey emerge.

TIP:

I covered my broiler pan with foil then sprayed it with non-stick Olive oil spray, which is a real clean up saver.  The honey makes the grouper crispy and crackly and tastes like heaven, but makes cleaning up no fun.  What good is a quick dinner if you are scrubbing the pan all night, right? 

Ingredients 

• 1 pound grouper fillets
• 2  tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed Orange Juice
• ¾  teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 teaspoon orange zest
• 2 teaspoon dried parsley

Instructions

Preheat broiler.

Combine all ingredients except grouper, mixing well.

Season filets with salt and pepper on both sides.

Place fillets on an oiled broiler pan and brush fillets with honey glaze to cover.

Broil or 4 to 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Flip fillets, brush with honey glaze and broil for an additional 2 minutes, then brush with honey glaze and broil for additional 1-2 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily.

*Don’t have a broiler pan? No worries! You can use a baking sheet. Don’t forget to cover it with foil and oil it for easy clean up!

3 Habanero Sauces

I don’t like to waste food so whenever possible I try to find ways to use different ingredients.

In this case, I had an abundance of orange Habaneros and Basil. My dad and brother love spicy foods, actually they like to say the SPICIER the better! 

So I created three different Habanero sauces. 

1. Habanero, Lime & Basil Hot Sauce
2. Habanero, Lime & Basil Vinaigrette
3. Habanero Avocado Basil Cream sauce

Remember, I told you I had a LOT of habaneros so I basically created a base sauce and then switched things up for each sauce, added a little here, and a little there. You may be wondering, why carrots? Carrots have a natural sweetness so I wanted to up the sweetness (and the flavor) without having to add too much sugar. The instructions for each sauce are the same, saute the carrots, onion and garlic, then drop all into a blender with all the other ingredients. Three habaneros was enough heat for me, but when I made my dad and brother’s jars I added two more. I’m serious when I say they like it HOT!

PLEASE make sure to wear gloves when handling the habaneros! I learned this the hard way. LOL. 

Hot Sauce Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 habanero peppers, stem and seeds removed
• 1 cup Basil, packed
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup lime juice
• ¼ cup Apple cider vineg
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ⅓ cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Vinaigrette Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 habanero peppers, stem and seeds removed
• 1 cup Basil, packed
• ½ cup Apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ½  cup water
• ¼ cup lime juice
• ⅓ cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Cream Sauce Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 habanero peppers, stem and seeds removed
• 2 avocados
• 1 cup Basil, packed
• ½ cup Apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ½  cup water
• ¼ cup lime juice
• ⅓ cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
Cook and stir the carrots, oil, onion, and garlic in the hot oil until soft, about 5 minutes; transfer to a blender. 

Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender; blend until smooth. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You may need to add more water by the tablespoonful, until the sauce reaches the consistency you like. 

Pour into the container of your choice and refrigerate.