you know, making my own salad dressing isn’t really something i think about doing often.  it’s just so easy to pick up a bottle from the grocery store.  it seems to be just fine.  until you make your own.  then it’s all over.  i’ve made various salad dressings before for somen salad and chinese chicken salad, as well as blue cheese dressing and the thai peanut dressing i made recently.  all of those are great but they didn’t convince me to just make my own regular salad dressing.

then my friend/colleague brought a maple dressing to serve with the salad she made for our office’s end of the year potluck.  i had a taste and it was the most delicious thing ever.  i knew i wanted to try to make some of my own.  but when i asked her for the recipe, she said she just throws things in a jar and mixes it up.  uh oh!  i don’t know to do  that.  you know me and how i need a recipe to follow.

so i went to the googles and found a recipe for maple balsamic dressing.  whipped it up and within minutes i had the most delicious maple balsamic dressing in the world.  i know, the WORLD!  this is a big claim but the fact that i have made probably 5 batches in the last 5 weeks says something.  plus chris even likes it and he’s usually not a big vinaigrette fan.

(more…)

i commute to work on the metro.  it takes me about a little over an hour, door to door.  i know many people who do not love public transportation but i really like it.  since i don’t have to drive, i have time to relax, reflect on the day or get ready for the day, take a cat nap, read, grade papers, see there are so many things i am able to do with my time.  it’s glorious.

but one downside is that i take the shuttle from campus to the metro station.  why is this a downside?  well in the parking lot nearest to my office there is often fresh produce from the university’s agriculture department just up for grabs.  this past summer there have been all kinds of veggies from potatoes, zucchini, bell pepper, and more.  i usually miss out because i don’t go to the parking lot often.  but recently i lucked out when went to the parking lot with one of my coworkers on the way to happy hour – there as a bunch of beautiful purple eggplant.

well i actually don’t like eggplant.  but my coworker told me about this awesome eggplant dip that she made, so i grabbed a few with hopes of making some eggplant dip too.  i did some research online and found a great, healthy recipe on the weight watchers website.  yay!

although this is certainly not the prettiest dip in the world, it sure is tasty.  there is tons of flavor from the garlic and lemon juice.  plus it’s super healthy because there is only 1 tablespoon of olive oil in this dip.  awesome!!!

to start, pierce the eggplant with a fork.

roast the eggplant at 375 degree f for about an hour, turning it once.

once the eggplant is done roasting, it will look like this.  pretty funky looking, huh?

allow the eggplant to cool completely.  now it’s time to make the dip.  you can either use a food processor or a hand blender to make the dip.  i used a hand blender so i didn’t have to worry about lugging out the food processor.  so in a medium bowl or the bowl of your food processor, add a few cloves of roasted garlic.  for instructions on how to roast garlic, please visit this post.

then slice the roasted eggplant in half and scoop out the flesh into the bowl.

pulse your food processor or use your hand blender to puree  the eggplant and garlic together.

once it’s smooth, add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and cumin.

once it’s all well combined it’s ready to serve.  though i will say this eggplant dip is better the next day once the flavors have time to meld together.

enjoy with pita chips, veggie sticks, pita or flatbread wedges and more.

(more…)