Grilled Veggie Spread

When it's too hot to cook, our family loves to grill. This is one of our favorite summer recipes, which can be enjoyed warm or cold, with vegetable scoops (carrots, asparagus, celery, etc) or homemade pita chips. It would probably be pretty good in place of hummus on veggie wraps or other such things. This recipe is very versatile and can be adapted to your tastes and what vegetables you have on hand.

Grilled Veggie Spread
6 small eggplants
3 large red bell peppers
3 large red onions
~10 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp tomato paste
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil plus more for drizzling (or olive oil spray)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat grill to about 400 degrees (medium-high temperature).
2. Wash eggplants, and cut into half inch slices (round or long strips). Wash peppers, remove stem and seeds, and slice into six to eight strips (about 1.5 inch wide). Peel onions and slice horizontally into half inch rounds.
3. Lay out eggplant, peppers, onions, and garlic, and spray with olive oil (or brush with a pastry brush if you don't have a spray) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Flip to other side, spray and season with salt and pepper.
4. Grill vegetables about 3 minutes per side, until they have dark grill marks, and are soft and cooked through (the times will vary somewhat for each vegetable and depending on the thickness of the slices).
5. Place vegetables in a food processor (in 2 batches if necessary). Add the tomato paste and pulse until chopped. Pour in olive oil to taste (and any additional seasoning) and continue blending to desired consistency (I like my dip pretty chunky, some prefer it smoother).

Makes approximately 3 cups.

Return from a long haitus...with Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I've been terrible about keeping up with this blog during the school year, but I am now back for the summer, hopefully with lots of exciting recipes that I will be making with friends in DC. For the next week I'm still at home, enjoying seeing my family and relaxing. Tomorrow (when it isn't raining), I'll post pictures of the garden my mom and I planted yesterday. For today, I've got chocolate chip cookies, one of my favorite recipes of all time, and the perfect thing for hungry brothers and a lazy rainy afternoon. They're so easy to make, and so much better than pre-made dough. Especially with Ghirardelli chocolate chips.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything with minor changes)













2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (or if salted butter, reduce the salt)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips


1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Use an electric mixer or wooden spoon to cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and the vanilla, and beat until well blended.

3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the batter (it's better if you mix them together in another bowl first, but I always just add them together, with the baking soda and salt sprinkled over the flour). Stir to blend. Add the chocolate chips and mix in, but don't over-mix (note: I always reserve about a dozen chocolate chips to add to the batter before scooping the final dozen so the last cookies still have lots of chips in them).

4. Drop spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets and bake until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. I like my cookies gooey, so I take them out before they're fully cooked. Cool for 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then use a spatula to transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes about 4 dozen.