Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Dip

Not that I think you are dense or anything, but I am just going to say it right off the bat: you need to turn on your oven to make this.  If that turns you away, so be it, but all I can do is offer my promise that turning on your oven to make this is so worth it.  

Any other time of the year, I wouldn't need to give this disclaimer, but I feel like everyone is sweltering lately.  Even living here in San Diego where we supposedly have a 'mild' climate, it is HOT.  (I finally broke down and bought my first fan!  Please don't make fun of me that I didn't have a fan before.)  You probably think I am crazy, telling you to make a Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Dip when your house is already a heat box, but I have to tell you, this is one of my favorite things to make in the summer.  

This dip tops my list of summer favorites because it is easy, healthy, and very quick and inexpensive to make.  So naturally, when my sister came to visit last weekend, we whipped up a batch to take to the beach.  She specifically asked me to show her recipes we could make together that she would be able to recreate back at home in Colorado.  My sister cooks, but isn't as passionate about it as I am and doesn't have a lot of time on her hands (and really just prefers ice cream and brownies), so easy recipes like this one are perfect for her.    

My sister also asked me the right way to cut an onion and other veggies, and I felt like a proud teacher with a star pupil as she sliced and diced like a pro.  

So here is just how easy this recipe is: You slice up the veggies...

On the side, Spice Roasted Carrots

I am always attracted to fresh, bright orange carrots at the farmers market.  With their springy, leafy green tops and wispy roots still attached, they are worlds apart from their plastic-wrapped counterparts at the grocery store.  They might even still have a little dirt clinging to them, telling you they really came from the earth.  (As opposed to those perfectly shaped baby carrots; who knows where they really come from...) 

Freshly washed carrots from the farmers market. 

The carrots from the farmers market even taste better - they have a sweeter and more grassy taste, whereas I think the carrots from the grocery store just taste a little watery and dull.  And speaking of watery, it is funny how those plastic wrapped carrots are packed in water, but yet can be so dry.  The carrots from the farmers market are always fresh and full of life.  And if you like a little variety in your life, look no further than the farmers market to find red, purple, and yellow carrots.  

The carrots from the farmers market come in all sizes... including some mini ones.

Sometimes when I get these carrots I just bring them home and eat them raw with an easy veggie dip, or I slice them up for salads or slaws.  But recently, I have been really into roasting them with spices to enhance their sweet flavor.  

No need to peel them, these carrots are perfect and beautiful just sliced in half.

You can really toss vegetables with any spices you like, but I often try out some new or more exotic spice blends.  Spice things up, if you will.  (Ha!  A pun!)  

So for these spice roasted carrots, I decided to mix sweet and salty with a rich spice blend known as baharat.  Baharat is a Middle Eastern spice blend commonly used to season lamb, lentils, stews, and soups and there are several different varieties.  The one originating in Turkey also contains mint, but the most traditional Arabic or North African baharat spice blend contains black pepper, coriander, cloves, cassia bark, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, and allspice.  Some blends also include chili pepper or paprika to give them a bit more ‘heat,’ but mine doesn't so I added some extra cayenne pepper to this recipe.  

Olive oil with sugar, salt, and spices to glaze the carrots.

Quick Peach Chipotle Salsa

Hi there!  Guess what? (this is a tricky one...) Its the weekend!!!  And even better, it is the weekend and it is still summer!  Yippee!  Does it get any better than this?  So, before you head out to your beach barbecues, backyard parties, or picnics in the park to enjoy these last beautiful days of summer, I wanted to give you a super quick recipe that you can take along with you.  

And guess what else?  Oh yes, it has peaches.  I warned you that I am obsessed. 

Since you can make this recipe in only a few short minutes, I am going to take only a minute to tell you about it.  Here is how it goes: Chop, chop, chop.  Mix, mix, mix.  Smoky, sweet, spicy.

Classic Stuffed Peppers

So I already admitted to you that I am not a big meat eater, which means that I don't make and post many "main dishes" here on The Cilantropist.  And while I know that main dishes can certainly be meatless, they still seem to be lacking.  Is this just because I love soups and salads so much?  Or is it something else?      

Because I don't really think this idea is as simple as "I don't eat much meat."  I think it means something different: I think it means that I don't yet have a family to feed, and that there are no little hungry mouths that are depending on me to provide them with a well-balanced meal.  And sure, I have a boyfriend (with a big hungry mouth to feed), but even he is not depending on me since he is currently more than 6,000 miles away.  When it comes down to it, I can really eat whatever tickles my fancy, because at this exact point in my life, the only person that I am responsible for is me.       

Is this is a luxury?  Many would say yes, and both my brain and my tastebuds would probably agree (who doesn't want cookies for dinner?).  I am sure more than a few of my readers would tell me to enjoy these carefree days while they last.  But I am just as sure that other readers would say that they throughly enjoy feeding their families and spouses, and although it is a responsibility, it is one they would never trade for anything.  And so while I do appreciate the luxury of languishing over a batch of ladyfingers or spending hours with my friend The Kitchen, I don't know that I actually want that luxury anymore; feeding people is really what I love the most about cooking, and my heart tells me that I want something more.