SRC: Cheesy & Gooey Eggplant Bake

It's time for another Secret Recipe Club post!  This month, I was assigned Josie's Kitchen.  What I love about Josie's blog is it's Dominican Republic/Latin influence.  I love trying recipe's that I know are authentic cuisine, not americanized.  :-)  She has lots of great food, but I landed on Cheesy & Gooey Eggplant Bake.  We are big fans of eggplant, but I don't have too many ways I serve it.  So I was excited to find a new recipe. It was really delicious!!  I did make a couple of changes due to what I had on hand and I note those in the ingredient list.
Make sure you stop by her blog and show some love.  Thanks Josie for a fantastic recipe and another way to serve eggplant!  :-)

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
1 garlic clove, crushed and diced
1 medium white onion, diced
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I used whole milk)
1 tbs oregano
1 tsp nutmeg
3 tbs butter, seperated
salt and pepper to taste
shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese (I also used a hunk of goat cheese)

Preheat the oven to 300.

Peel and cut the eggplant into chunks.  Season with salt and pepper.  Melt 1 tbs of butter and cook the eggplant on medium heat, covered, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may need to add some water if the eggplant is sticking (I did do this).

Meanwhile, melt another tablespoon of butter and cook the onion until soft and transparent.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Then add the heavy cream and cook uncovered on low heat.

Grease a baking dish with the remaining butter, and add the eggplant.  Add the oregano and the nutmeg to the cream.  (this is where I added some goat cheese as well and let it melt.)

Sprinkle the eggplant with some cheese and then poor the cream over top.  Add more cheese if you like. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Once it's finished baking, let it rest before serving.

I used the left overs over pasta the next day.  2 Great dishes out of 1!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to visit The Secret Recipe Club for more great recipes.

Blessings,
Chellie

Bird's Nest

Here's a fun Easter treat I made with the kids.  This was so easy and quite tasty!  You can decide which eggs you want to use as there are lots of choices.  The recipe calls for cadbury mini eggs, I bought those, but they were not pastel colored.  I also bought some peanut butter filled eggs.  I liked the color of those much better.  They tasted good too, but I am a fan of dark chocolate, and that's what the cadbury eggs are.
You can see both reflected in the photos.
I found this recipe on the curvy carrot.

Ingredients:
cooking spray, for greasing the pan
muffin tin
6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 ounces of butterscotch chips
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 ounces of chow mein noodles
36 mini eggs

Melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl.  Use 30 second increments, stirring after each one, until all the chips are melted.

Add your peanut butter and stir until it's mixed well.

Carefully add the chow mein noodles, and gently stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until all of them are coated well.

Fill your muffin tin with the mixture and mold them slightly so there is a well in the center.

Chill until hardened, about an hour or so.  Remove the nests from the tin.  I used a butter knife to kind of pop them out.  Then you can add your eggs (you could also use jelly beans).

Tropical Chicken Tacos

These were incredible!  We eat tacos or some form of mexican food at least once a week.  This was a great twist on our usuals.  The recipe comes from Clean Eating Magazine, so not only is it delicious, but it's good for you!  I did improvise the recipe in some places simply because I didn't have everything in the house, and it turned out great.  I will post the original recipe and note my changes as I go.

Ingredients for tacos:
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 cup low fat coconut milk
1/4 cup minced red onion
3 tbs minced pineapple
1 tsp ancho chile powder (I used regular chile powder)
1/4 tsp sale
1/4 tsp pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp safflower oil (I used olive)
12 6 inch corn tortillas warmed (I used flour)

Coconut pineapple salsa:
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (I used some orange bell pepper, but it lacked 'kick')
3 cups cubed pineapple
1 loosely packed cup fresh cilantro, chopped
(I also added some finely chopped cucumber)
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup toasted unsweetened coconut
1/8 tsp salt

1.  In a large mixing bowl or zip lock bag, combine jalapeno, milk, onion, 3 tbs pineapple, chile powder, 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper.  Add chicken and marinate at room temperature for up to 30 minutes, or overnight in the refrigerator.  Chicken should not marinate for more than 8 hours.

2.  Meanwhile, prepare salsa.  In a mixing bowl, combine salsa ingredients.  cover and refrigerate until needed.

3.  Heat grill or a grill pan and brush with oil.  ( I did these on the grill).  Remove chicken from marinade and grill until cooked through.  Slice chicken into thin strips and divide among the tortillas, then add your salsa.  We added avacado too!  YUM!