Date Night at Home!

So far we have failed miserably at the once a week cooking idea. It is harder than I had imagined… I think we are going to revamp the idea into once a week prep-cooking. Instead of cooking the entire meal, we will just cook things that take a long time or make a big mess. For instance, we could cook a pot of black beans for nachos and stuffed peppers ahead of time. That way we can still have healthy meals that are semi-quick, but we still get that freshly made taste.

Last night, we had date night at home. I made caramelized eggplant, to add to my homemade spaghetti sauce over spaghetti squash. I got the idea from my favorite pasta dish at Vespaio, our favorite Italian restaurant in Austin, the Spaghetti Pomodoro E Melanzane. It turned out fabulously!

We accompanied our eggplant dish with toasted ciabatta bread and Adams Reserve Classic Italian Bread Dipper. We are trying to cut down on our gluten intake, but missing out on garlic bread is not an option! Maybe we will try making our own gluten free bread one day!

No lime drinks tonight, but we did wash it down with a great 09 Cab from Napa Valley, Avalon.

Recipe for caramelized eggplant:

-Cut eggplant into 1" cubes and lightly season with salt and pepper
-Heat stir-fry pan and add 4 generous tablespoons of olive oil (more if eggplant is good sized) and eggplant
-Once the eggplant softens and is lightly browning, add 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
-Cook for another 5-7 minutes (or until eggplant is browned), keep a close eye on it so that it does not burn