The title for this entry could have been really long. Like it could have been miso ginger sesame marinated grilled eggplant and zucchini with vegetable fried rice, because that’s what it is for real. But it sounds a bit daunting and I certainly don’t want to scare anyone off, because you should make this dish. Even if you don’t love eggplant, you will love eggplant marinated in other delicious tastes. Eggplant is akin to a sponge, it just soaks up whatever you immerse it in, making for a versatile little vegetable. It’s beauty epitomizes the nightshade family, that deep purple skin which makes eggplant the most gothic and mysterious of vegetables (ahem, I mean fruit). For many years I feared this mysterious creature, but now I embrace its dark allure, in all of it’s variations.
Strips of grilled yellow zucchini make this dinner plate appear as night and day and since you’re going to be left with quite a bit of tasty marinade, you may as well make fried rice and call it a meal. A very vegan friendly, garden spotlight of a meal.
You can’t go wrong with a 2 in 1 sauce, you could even mix in a bit more oil and use it as a salad dressing, but the fried rice is smashing alongside grilled veggies.
We brought a few things to our new place and tried to go camping the other day. Our spot ended up being full so we slept on the floor of our new home. Days later, still sore, I got into some familiar old yoga poses today alongside baby Mavi. Of course it didn’t last long and I ended up blowing zerberts and nursing the voracious bean sprout little peanut ( I know my pet names all have to do with food :P). Which got me thinking about dedication. How many things can you truly be dedicated to at once? There was a time when I was passionately dedicated to my yoga practice, and in my heart I know I will get back to that someday. The replacement is more important and the dedication deeper when it comes to my little man. It doesn’t matter so much where our devotion lies, more so that it exists, that there is something we pour our soul into expecting nothing in return. This zeal is what makes life worth living, and we all have our different callings, our dedication grows with ardor in an ideal world. Can you imagine if we all got to live our lives based on what we care most about, if money were no object. What would you do? I think I would grow food, and host large dinner parties every weekend for all to enjoy, you’re invited 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 whole eggplants, 1/4 inch length wise slices
- 1 yellow zucchini, 1/4 inch length wise slices
- 1/4 C coconut aminos or gluten-free tamari
- 1 Tbs sesame oil
- 1 Tbs sesame seeds
- 1 Tbs coconut palm sugar or honey
- 1 Tbs miso mixed with 1 Tbs hot water
- 2 Tbs grated ginger
- 1 C basmati rice
- 2 C water
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 C chopped onion or scallion
- 1 egg
- handful of broccoli florets
- handful of cauliflower florets
- 3 kale leaves, chopped
- 3 swiss chard leaves, chopped
- 1 cup chopped red cabbage
- handful of basil leaves, chopped
- 3/4 C leftover marinade
Instructions
- Mix together coconut amino or tamari, sesame oil, sesame seeds, honey or sugar, miso and ginger.
- Add eggplant and zucchini to a ziploc bag and add marinade. Let this sit for 1 hour to overnight.
- Heat for grill to 425F, grill pieces of eggplant and zucchini 3 minutes per side.
- Cook basmati in 2 cup water or as per instructions on the bag.
- In a wok or large frying pan add sesame oil and onion, when the onion starts to brown add the egg and scramble, add vegetables and half of marinade. Cover and let the veggies steam for a few minutes.
- Add rice and the rest of marinate, mix it all up and raise the heat to high for 2 minutes to finish and evaporate any excess moisture. Garnish with chopped basil.
