i love the weekend!!!

is it just me, or did this week just drag on forever? i was SO happy that friday finally rolled around. not only is it a long weekend, but i had a bunch of produce to use up! my roommate kiran and i have lived together for almost 4 years now, and during that time, i have converted her to enjoying (working on loving) vegetables. she now buys random vegetables for me to cook for her. her choices this week? eggplant and asparagus. my friend cmoore came over for dinner too, so it became an awesome girls' night in (dessert included)!

girls' night in

stuffed eggplant, grilled asparagus, and roasted garlic shmear (drooling yet?)

dessert: nectarine-blueberry crumble

2 heads (whole) garlic, plus 2 cloves, chopped

olive oil

1 1/4 lb ground turkey

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 bunch asparagus, 3 stalks chopped, rest reserved whole

6 mushrooms, chopped

1/4 cup roasted red peppers, chopped

7-8 greek olives, chopped

2 carrots, grated

1 tbsp honey

1 large eggplant

1 lemon

1 french loaf

for the dessert:

3 nectarines, pitted & chopped

1 small pack of blueberries

1 1/2 cups instant oatmeal

2-3 tbsp butter, softened & chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 dashes of cinnamon

preheat the oven to 400 degrees. take the 2 heads of garlic and chop off the top 1/4-1/2 inch of them so the cloves are exposed. put each head of garlic in foil and drizzle 1 tsp of olive oil over each head and wrap them individually. place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 30-45 minutes until they are soft and buttery. when they are cool, squeeze them out into a small bowl and mash with a fork into a shmear.

while the garlic is cooking, cut the eggplant in half lengthwise. scoop out the insides of the eggplant, leaving a 1/4-1/2 inch of flesh on the skin. chop up the inside flesh of the eggplang. heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet. brown the ground turkey in the hot oil, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. add in the chopped garlic and onions and allow to sweat out for a bit. then add in the peppers, chopped eggplant, asparagus, mushrooms, olives,

carrots, and honey. cook everything together until the mixture is all heated through. (at this point, i think i would have added a 14 oz can of tomato sauce, but i didn't have any on hand. next time!) fill the eggplant halves with the turkey mixture. (you'll have extra that you can use as leftovers...check out the next post.) place the halves on a baking sheet. drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt & pepper over the eggplants and put into the oven for about 15 minutes.

heat a grill pan on medium high. toss the whole asparagus in olive oil, salt & pepper. place on the grill and cook for about 5-7 minutes, until it is grilled and cooked through.

split the french loaf in half and toast in the broiler. serve with the roasted garlic shmear.

when the eggplant is ready, cut into sections. squeeze lemon juice over the eggplant and grilled asparagus.

for the dessert, combine the nectarines and blueberries in 3 small, individual pyrex bowls with the cinnamon. in a separate bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, and oatmeal. mix them with your fingers. portion out the oats over each pyrex bowl and place into a 450 degree oven. cook for about 15-20 minutes, until the oats are crispy and bubbling. serve with ice cream (if you have it). yeeeeeah. :)