What should I make?
October 12, 2023 1:00 AM Subscribe
I have 250 grams of boring white mushrooms, a smallish eggplant and a zucchini on the larger size. I dislike cooking, but I like eating. I have lemon juice, olive oil, heavy cream, soy sauce, walnuts, eggs, various tinned beans and various spices. I don’t want this produce to go bad plus I don’t want to buy anything else. Please share any easy recipes that will use all three items. Soup, casserole, merely roasted, whatever as long as you consider it both tasty and easy. Thanks, hive mind!
Best answer: The easiest thing would just be to chop everything up, add salt, oil and spices to taste and roast, maybe adding a can of chickpeas to the roasting tray to make more of a meal. You could dress it with a lemon juice and olive oil dressing if it's too plain on its own.
If you want to be a little fancier, I would halve both the eggplant and zucchini longways, roast them until very soft, then pop them (minus the eggplant peel) in the food processor with half a cup of walnuts (probably nice to toast those in the oven during your last 5 minutes of roasting), lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and whatever spices you have that would go with something along the lines of (but not exactly) baba ghanoush. Then saute your mushrooms with complementary spices and use them to garnish your dip. I'm assuming you have bread or crackers or your preferred equivalent in the house for dipping.
If you want to be a lot fancier, you could roast your zucchini and eggplant cut longways as boats. Then make a filling of sauteed mushrooms, whatever complementary beans you have (lentils recommended), olive oil, lemon juice and spices. Once the veg have roasted, cut the innards in a checkerboard pattern to make them easier to scoop up and top with the filling. If you had a tin of tomatoes kicking around, you could use it in place of the lemon juice.
posted by snaw at 3:52 AM on October 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
If you want to be a little fancier, I would halve both the eggplant and zucchini longways, roast them until very soft, then pop them (minus the eggplant peel) in the food processor with half a cup of walnuts (probably nice to toast those in the oven during your last 5 minutes of roasting), lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and whatever spices you have that would go with something along the lines of (but not exactly) baba ghanoush. Then saute your mushrooms with complementary spices and use them to garnish your dip. I'm assuming you have bread or crackers or your preferred equivalent in the house for dipping.
If you want to be a lot fancier, you could roast your zucchini and eggplant cut longways as boats. Then make a filling of sauteed mushrooms, whatever complementary beans you have (lentils recommended), olive oil, lemon juice and spices. Once the veg have roasted, cut the innards in a checkerboard pattern to make them easier to scoop up and top with the filling. If you had a tin of tomatoes kicking around, you could use it in place of the lemon juice.
posted by snaw at 3:52 AM on October 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
Best answer: There are a lot of crosshatch recipes going around for roasted zucchini and eggplant. You could use the soy sauce to make a soy-mirin glaze and brush this atop the roasted vegetable. Add roasted sesame seeds for a bit of nuttiness. The glaze is very flexible - I often add garlic and ginger for depth of flavor, and will add sliced Thai bird or other chilies for heat.
As an alternative to the glaze, you might use the walnuts with garlic, basil, and parmesan to make a pesto and use that to flavor the vegetable. A food processor will make this less work.
Eggs and mushroom go well together. You could fry up the mushroom and set aside. Whisk a few eggs with a little bit of lemon juice and a touch of heavy cream, heat it up on a non-stick pan and add the mush just before the egg sets. Sprinkle sea salt and ground pepper on top. Flip and fold it; makes a nice and quick mushroom omelet.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:06 AM on October 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
As an alternative to the glaze, you might use the walnuts with garlic, basil, and parmesan to make a pesto and use that to flavor the vegetable. A food processor will make this less work.
Eggs and mushroom go well together. You could fry up the mushroom and set aside. Whisk a few eggs with a little bit of lemon juice and a touch of heavy cream, heat it up on a non-stick pan and add the mush just before the egg sets. Sprinkle sea salt and ground pepper on top. Flip and fold it; makes a nice and quick mushroom omelet.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:06 AM on October 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'd be making a curry, if you've got some vaguely appropriate spices. Halve the mushrooms, slice the eggplant and zucchini (I like big chunks of eggplant - they mop up the sauce well). Roughly chop some walnuts for texture. Add a can of chickpeas or beans if you've got them. I'd lean towards a creamy sauce if you don't have tomatoes/onions - something like this korma recipe would be a good starting point.
posted by offog at 4:40 AM on October 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by offog at 4:40 AM on October 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
If you have some canned tomatoes or tomato sauce, I'd chop everything up, add the tomatoes, add Italian-ish spices, simmer until soft, and call it ratatouille. Good with bread, noodles, rice, couscous...
posted by gakiko at 5:09 AM on October 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by gakiko at 5:09 AM on October 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Roast them all, serve on top of a creamy polenta if you have some in the house. Extra points if you grate a bunch of Parmesan or Pecorino into the polenta and add some cream when it’s done cooking.
posted by A Blue Moon at 5:12 AM on October 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by A Blue Moon at 5:12 AM on October 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Best answer: Roast
Chop veg into bite/fork sized pieces. (Peel the eggplant unless it is very thin skin.) Salt, oil, garlic powder, more oil roast at 425 on sheet pans until soft. Remove mushrooms if the are done sooner. More salt, more olive oil.
Now these can be eaten:
Cold with lemon juice, walnuts on top, especially the zucchini
Warmed with heavy cream and favorite herbs
Warmed with kidney/pinto beans and chili spices
Stir fried with soy sauce and an egg scrambled in
Warm the mushrooms into an egg omelette plus herbs
Puree the eggplant with cream and garlic thickly for a dip or more cream/water for a soup, add white beans pureed or not for a more substantial soup, leave some pieces chopped, not pureed
posted by RoadScholar at 5:12 AM on October 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Chop veg into bite/fork sized pieces. (Peel the eggplant unless it is very thin skin.) Salt, oil, garlic powder, more oil roast at 425 on sheet pans until soft. Remove mushrooms if the are done sooner. More salt, more olive oil.
Now these can be eaten:
Cold with lemon juice, walnuts on top, especially the zucchini
Warmed with heavy cream and favorite herbs
Warmed with kidney/pinto beans and chili spices
Stir fried with soy sauce and an egg scrambled in
Warm the mushrooms into an egg omelette plus herbs
Puree the eggplant with cream and garlic thickly for a dip or more cream/water for a soup, add white beans pureed or not for a more substantial soup, leave some pieces chopped, not pureed
posted by RoadScholar at 5:12 AM on October 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'd do a bean/mushroom pot pie.
I'd sautée in cast iron onions, mushrooms, then add eggplant. At the end add the heavy cream, salt, herbs (eg oregano, basil), and a can of white beans (navy, great northern, cannellini). Use a little flour to thicken. Maybe add a can of tomatoes. The egg could go in with the cream if you want to use it and you want the pie to set more.
Top with a crust (premade, can of biscuits, or homemade) and bake and you're good. Now that I think of it, this prob works fine as a stew also.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:18 AM on October 12, 2023
I'd sautée in cast iron onions, mushrooms, then add eggplant. At the end add the heavy cream, salt, herbs (eg oregano, basil), and a can of white beans (navy, great northern, cannellini). Use a little flour to thicken. Maybe add a can of tomatoes. The egg could go in with the cream if you want to use it and you want the pie to set more.
Top with a crust (premade, can of biscuits, or homemade) and bake and you're good. Now that I think of it, this prob works fine as a stew also.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:18 AM on October 12, 2023
Do you have onions and tinned tomatoes? Because then you can make our family vegetarian pasta sauce. We normally use it for lasagne, and actually prefer it to meat lasagne. But it works just fine with spaghetti, too.
The first thing to do is to finely chop the onion, the eggplant and the zucchini. First sauté the onions gently in a generous amount olive oil till they are soft and translucent NOT BROWN. Then add finely chopped garlic, if you have it. Then add the eggplant and zucchini and sauter those. The zucchini will let off a lot of water and the eggplant will sponge it up, that is fine. Again, you don't want brown. Now add a little oregano (or a lot, if you like that), and the tomatoes. You could also add a tablespoon of tomato puree and 400 ml water or stock, in a pinch.
Let this braise for at least 30 minutes. Add more liquid if it dries out.
Meanwhile, chop up the mushrooms finely and fry them in olive oil or butter or a mix. Sprinkle with a little salt. First they will let out the water, and then they will start to brown, when they are brown and aromatic, stop cooking.
Now check the vegetable sauce to see if it is cooked properly through. The issue is the eggplant. You want none of that uncooked eggplant taste or mouthfeel. Cook till it is ready, then mix in the mushrooms and season to taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a few drops of balsamico. Taste all the time till it is good.
Use what you need today, and freeze the rest for later use.
As I said, this is the best sauce for lasagne, but I'm guessing you don't have lasagne sheets or the ingredients for bechamel. BTW, for vegans I have made bechamel from oat milk and vegan butter, and it is very good. The only reason I don't do it all the time is that vegan butter is an UPF, and I try to avoid those.
posted by mumimor at 5:25 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
The first thing to do is to finely chop the onion, the eggplant and the zucchini. First sauté the onions gently in a generous amount olive oil till they are soft and translucent NOT BROWN. Then add finely chopped garlic, if you have it. Then add the eggplant and zucchini and sauter those. The zucchini will let off a lot of water and the eggplant will sponge it up, that is fine. Again, you don't want brown. Now add a little oregano (or a lot, if you like that), and the tomatoes. You could also add a tablespoon of tomato puree and 400 ml water or stock, in a pinch.
Let this braise for at least 30 minutes. Add more liquid if it dries out.
Meanwhile, chop up the mushrooms finely and fry them in olive oil or butter or a mix. Sprinkle with a little salt. First they will let out the water, and then they will start to brown, when they are brown and aromatic, stop cooking.
Now check the vegetable sauce to see if it is cooked properly through. The issue is the eggplant. You want none of that uncooked eggplant taste or mouthfeel. Cook till it is ready, then mix in the mushrooms and season to taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a few drops of balsamico. Taste all the time till it is good.
Use what you need today, and freeze the rest for later use.
As I said, this is the best sauce for lasagne, but I'm guessing you don't have lasagne sheets or the ingredients for bechamel. BTW, for vegans I have made bechamel from oat milk and vegan butter, and it is very good. The only reason I don't do it all the time is that vegan butter is an UPF, and I try to avoid those.
posted by mumimor at 5:25 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Do you have onions, garlic, and some form of tomato? Because you are halfway to a sort of ratatouille. Other ingredients that are nice but not mandatory to have: any or all of the herbs in herbes de provence either dried or fresh, nice olive oil, bell peppers (perhaps you have some roasted in a jar?), and white wine. Also honestly pretty much any other veg you have that needs using up.
Start with your onion and garlic, as well as any optional carrot or celery, and dice everything up fairly small, Smash and chop the garlic. Add to a large pan with relatively high sides like a Dutch oven and sauté in olive oil on medium-low heat until things are translucent and have maybe just begun to get color.
Meanwhile deal with the rest of your veg: halve the mushrooms, cut the eggplant and zucchini into chunks approximately the size of the mushroom halves (or a little bigger), mince any fresh herbs and set aside. Optionally cut peppers into strips and fresh tomatoes into small pieces.
First add the mushrooms to the pot. It is okay that they soak up all the oil because they will release a lot of liquid once they start breaking down. Add salt and a little water and crank the heat up to medium high, put the lid on and let the shrooms steam and break down for a little bit. Okay, take off the lid and let the mushrooms and onions brown. Once the liquid has all boiled off things should start to brown, sometimes this can take a little while depending on the wetness of the mushrooms, but it’s all okay and yummy.
Add some more oil once this browning starts happening and then add any dried spices you have. I suggest dried thyme and rosemary and a few bay leaves if you don’t have a Mediterranean herb blend kicking around your pantry. After a minute of the spices blooming, add in optional tomato paste, a few tablespoons of the stuff. Only add tomato paste if you have no other form of tomato. Mix that around with the onions mushrooms and spices and let it fry a minute in the oil too.
Then add the eggplant and zucchini and whatever other veg you are using up except for fresh tomatoes which you can treat kind of like a liquid. Add salt and pepper when you put in each new vegetable so it comes out well seasoned in the end. Stir it up and let things begin to cook in a relatively dry pot for a couple minutes so it begins to build up some flavor on the bottom.
Then add your liquids. Add a glass or more of whine if you have it first and use your spoon to scrape up any brown flavor bits from the pan. If you don’t have wine add a little water just for deglazing purposes. Then add your canned or fresh tomatoes, and any fresh herbs you have. Parsley and basil are best fresh if you have them. You want enough liquid in the pot to just cover the vegetables, so top it up with some more wine, water, or whatever fairly neutral stock you have in the pantry like chicken or veggie stock. If you used tomato paste add plenty of water to create a sauce. Bring everything up to a simmer, cover, and let it bubble for about twenty minutes.
Take the lid off, taste, and decide if you want it to be thicker or leave it at the consistency you’ve got. I like to reduce my vegetable stews to be a little less soupy, personally. If you are also this way, crank up the heat and leave the lid off for five to ten more minutes. Then taste again for seasoning because since it reduced it will taste saltier. If you don’t want to reduce it, you will probably want to add a little more salt. Top with a liberal swirl of your best olive oil, and if you want to do some hard cheese like parmesan on there go for it.
You can eat this hot, room temp, or cold. It’s good on rice and yummy on potatoes and great on crusty bread. It makes a fine base for a sauce to go with any roast meats you may have. You can add a can of white beans or chickpeas at the end to have a very hearty stew. You can poach eggs in it shakshuka style. You can eat it as a small plate with other tapas-ish stuff like olives and cheese and fruits and seafood, or have it at the central focus of a meal.
It sounds complicated all written out like this but basically, it’s just a late summer vegetable stew with everything cut to about the same size, simmered in a tomato base. If you don’t get the browning or herbs right or whatever, it’s still going to taste pretty great.
posted by Mizu at 5:30 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Start with your onion and garlic, as well as any optional carrot or celery, and dice everything up fairly small, Smash and chop the garlic. Add to a large pan with relatively high sides like a Dutch oven and sauté in olive oil on medium-low heat until things are translucent and have maybe just begun to get color.
Meanwhile deal with the rest of your veg: halve the mushrooms, cut the eggplant and zucchini into chunks approximately the size of the mushroom halves (or a little bigger), mince any fresh herbs and set aside. Optionally cut peppers into strips and fresh tomatoes into small pieces.
First add the mushrooms to the pot. It is okay that they soak up all the oil because they will release a lot of liquid once they start breaking down. Add salt and a little water and crank the heat up to medium high, put the lid on and let the shrooms steam and break down for a little bit. Okay, take off the lid and let the mushrooms and onions brown. Once the liquid has all boiled off things should start to brown, sometimes this can take a little while depending on the wetness of the mushrooms, but it’s all okay and yummy.
Add some more oil once this browning starts happening and then add any dried spices you have. I suggest dried thyme and rosemary and a few bay leaves if you don’t have a Mediterranean herb blend kicking around your pantry. After a minute of the spices blooming, add in optional tomato paste, a few tablespoons of the stuff. Only add tomato paste if you have no other form of tomato. Mix that around with the onions mushrooms and spices and let it fry a minute in the oil too.
Then add the eggplant and zucchini and whatever other veg you are using up except for fresh tomatoes which you can treat kind of like a liquid. Add salt and pepper when you put in each new vegetable so it comes out well seasoned in the end. Stir it up and let things begin to cook in a relatively dry pot for a couple minutes so it begins to build up some flavor on the bottom.
Then add your liquids. Add a glass or more of whine if you have it first and use your spoon to scrape up any brown flavor bits from the pan. If you don’t have wine add a little water just for deglazing purposes. Then add your canned or fresh tomatoes, and any fresh herbs you have. Parsley and basil are best fresh if you have them. You want enough liquid in the pot to just cover the vegetables, so top it up with some more wine, water, or whatever fairly neutral stock you have in the pantry like chicken or veggie stock. If you used tomato paste add plenty of water to create a sauce. Bring everything up to a simmer, cover, and let it bubble for about twenty minutes.
Take the lid off, taste, and decide if you want it to be thicker or leave it at the consistency you’ve got. I like to reduce my vegetable stews to be a little less soupy, personally. If you are also this way, crank up the heat and leave the lid off for five to ten more minutes. Then taste again for seasoning because since it reduced it will taste saltier. If you don’t want to reduce it, you will probably want to add a little more salt. Top with a liberal swirl of your best olive oil, and if you want to do some hard cheese like parmesan on there go for it.
You can eat this hot, room temp, or cold. It’s good on rice and yummy on potatoes and great on crusty bread. It makes a fine base for a sauce to go with any roast meats you may have. You can add a can of white beans or chickpeas at the end to have a very hearty stew. You can poach eggs in it shakshuka style. You can eat it as a small plate with other tapas-ish stuff like olives and cheese and fruits and seafood, or have it at the central focus of a meal.
It sounds complicated all written out like this but basically, it’s just a late summer vegetable stew with everything cut to about the same size, simmered in a tomato base. If you don’t get the browning or herbs right or whatever, it’s still going to taste pretty great.
posted by Mizu at 5:30 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
I really like the crosshatch idea! Here is one specifically for eggplant. You could just roast the eggplant and the zucchini in this way, brushed with olive oil (in different pans if the cut pieces end up not similar sizes) and then top with mushrooms you have sauteed-- in butter, if possible. Add some cream and walnuts and herbs to the mushrooms if you like. Beans might be a nice side too.
posted by BibiRose at 5:53 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by BibiRose at 5:53 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
This eggplant stew looks good. You could totally add the zucchini in with the eggplant
posted by CleverClover at 8:40 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by CleverClover at 8:40 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You've probably had dinner ages ago, but I suddenly realized you have all the ingredients for a perfect antipasto/mezze spread. I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier.
You could make grilled marinated vegetables, mushroom crostini and bean dip. And make good use of that spelt bread ,-)
Personally, I love antipasti for dinner, it's like popcorn for dinner, which is never wrong, but antipasti is a lot healthier.
For the walnuts, look at Georgia., and you'll find one more tasty dippy thing. The best thing about all of these is that you can keep them in the fridge for days and match them with salads or use them as appetizers before a main.
For your whole cream, why not make butter from scratch? We had that yesterday at work and it can be such a treat with good bread.
posted by mumimor at 11:34 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
You could make grilled marinated vegetables, mushroom crostini and bean dip. And make good use of that spelt bread ,-)
Personally, I love antipasti for dinner, it's like popcorn for dinner, which is never wrong, but antipasti is a lot healthier.
For the walnuts, look at Georgia., and you'll find one more tasty dippy thing. The best thing about all of these is that you can keep them in the fridge for days and match them with salads or use them as appetizers before a main.
For your whole cream, why not make butter from scratch? We had that yesterday at work and it can be such a treat with good bread.
posted by mumimor at 11:34 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I am lazy. Here's what I would do:
Roast the eggplant and babaganoush it. This is shockingly easy. There are ways to be fancy but you don't need to. Here is a recipe without tahini so you don't have to buy extra ingredients. If you don't have anything to dip in it, you can eat it with a spoon because it's delicious.
Then saute the mushrooms and xucchini in a heavily spiced olive oil according to your spice preferences (not sure what you have). Then mix tinned beans (rinsed and drained) in to add protein.
posted by corb at 12:03 PM on October 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Roast the eggplant and babaganoush it. This is shockingly easy. There are ways to be fancy but you don't need to. Here is a recipe without tahini so you don't have to buy extra ingredients. If you don't have anything to dip in it, you can eat it with a spoon because it's delicious.
Then saute the mushrooms and xucchini in a heavily spiced olive oil according to your spice preferences (not sure what you have). Then mix tinned beans (rinsed and drained) in to add protein.
posted by corb at 12:03 PM on October 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DarlingBri at 3:50 AM on October 12, 2023 [3 favorites]