Blog Carnival is back for the second installment and this time the blog carnival is centered on Mediterranean Cuisine. The topic was chosen long before the report came out that eating a mediterranean diet is better for your health.
Essentially the study showed that there was a heart benefit to eating the Mediterranean diet but the downside to the report is there is no cause and effect so it is not 100% full-proof. The Mediterranean diet has principal aspects that include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt), moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of meat and meat products. This is not typical of all Mediterranean countries but they are the predominant aspects of the diet.
When I chose to do the blog carnival for March I thought that being able to have the #EnduranceFoodies choose the country they wanted to work with and this would provide all of you with various recipes from the region and all would be different. The blog carnival grew from 5 for the recovery meals to 10 for the Mediterranean cuisine and hopefully after reading this you will want to join the blog carnival for April. If you choose to be a part of the blog carnival in April please contact me.
The Country Of Malta
I decided to allow the other participants pick their countries first and then I would select from the rest. I wound up with Malta which is a country consists of an archipelago situated in the center of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya. After doing some research I chose to make Maltese Kaponata and I am thrilled with my choice. The meal came out great tasting and had multiple uses. I wound up with enough of the kaponata to not only make dinner but to make breakfast the next day, proving that if you have an imagination then you can create multiple dishes from one recipe.
Following is the March blog carnival Mediterranean Cuisine recipe for kaponata. For the other, upcoming, recipes and links to those recipes you can find them below.
Blog Carnival – Mediterranean Cuisine – Maltese Kaponata
Ingredients: 50g Eggplant, 50g Tomatoes, 50g Onion, 5 cloves garlic, 4 celery stalks, 30g Green Peppers, 1/4c Tomato Puree, 2 Tbsp capers, 10 Olives (pitted), 2/3c Ancient Grain Pasta
Servings: 2 servings of Kaponata from this recipe, but the pasta creates only 1 serving
Nutritional Information (including pasta): 373 calories, 72g Carbs, 5g Fat, 10g Protein, 14g Fiber
Directions:
- Peel and dice eggplants.
- Arrange in the colander and sprinkle with salt (removes acidity).
- Leave to drain for about 20 minutes, rinse.
- Dice remaining ingredients, except the tomato, and set on a plate as this will be an assembly of ingredients that will allow flavor to layer.
- Bring water to a boil and add celery. Allow to boil for one minute and then remove celery and set aside.
- In boiling water add tomato and cook for one minute. Remove tomato and peel skin then dice.
- In a pan add 3 Tbsp olive oil and heat then add the diced eggplant and cook until browned on all sides. May have to add oil as it cooks as the eggplant will soak up the oil.
- In a separate pan add 1 Tbsp olive oil and add the garlic and onion and cook until onions are translucent but be careful not to burn garlic.
- When garlic and oil are ready add in the tomato and celery and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add in eggplant and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the 1/4c tomato puree and cook down for a few minutes then add in remaining ingredients and allow to cook for 20 minutes.
- Toward end of 20 minutes of cooking bring water to a boil and add pasta. Once pasta is done drain and plate then add the kaponata on top enjoy.
Kaponata Breakfast Tacos
Kaponata Tops Ancient Grain Pasta
For a second recipe I took the kaponata and added 3 scrambled eggs and allowed to cook together until eggs are set. I then added the egg kaponata mixture to homemade corn tortillas and had incredibly tasty breakfast tacos.
The other participants in the blog carnival along with their country of choice are as follows:
The post Blog Carnival #Endurance Foodies – Mediterranean Cuisine appeared first on Cook Train Eat Race.
