Stewed Eggplant and broiled salmon with mashed culliflower

Stewed eggplant and broiled Salmon with mashed cauliflower

I was sharing with a co-worker today that when I first learned about my dietary challenges I was afraid to eat at a restaurant, in fact, it took me one whole month to make an attempt at dinning out and that resulted in me sending my food back twice. Anyway I have come a long way since then but that does not mean it is any easier. Sharing this story today reminded of a more recent experience I had.
My friend took his nephew and I to a new, trendy restaurant for breakfast because he knew they had gluten free waffles. Now my friend and his nephew are both very familiar with my diet and both check ingredients rigorously before offering me anything to eat. They must have been excited to see the words “gluten free” on a menu because they missed that the waffles were made with soy milk. No harm though I found something else that was just as delicious. So any way When the waitress returned she made a comment about no one ordering the gluten free waffles that we asked about, when I told her the reason was because I couldn’t have soy either she said to me “ oh my god you poor thing, I thank god every day that I can eat whatever I want because I don’t know what I would do.” Now, I know that she was probably sincere about her pity for me but as my friends nephiew stated “ would You stare a handicap person in the face and say Im so happy I have my legs?” hopefully not. Now I have only been gluten free for about five months so I still have the taste of waffles in my memory. Instead of saying im sorry and leaving it at that she decided to kick me while ii was down
Im not mad at the lady im just telling the story to make a point. People do not understand how difficult it can be to have dietary restrictions. Even when there is a specialty item ( and I do mean one) on the menu they still almost always include another food that could be dangerous to someone. Soy is one of the top seven foods that people have allergies to. Yet why is it that soy is 95% of the time used as a substitute for dairy? What about rice milk, or coconut milk?
Well until the restaurant industry gets a clue that the number of people in this country with food sensitivities is steadily increasing, I will continue to experiment with making my own delectable dishes. And I am more than happy to share them with anyone willing to read this blog. So on to my recipe.

Ingredients


Stewed eggplant Salmon
~ one medium eggplant ~frozen or fresh salmon
~garlic ~ white wine

~one can stewed tomatoes ~fresh squeezed lemon juice
~one small onion ~ honey
~rosemarry ~garlic
~red pepper flakes ~olive oil
~basil
~black pepper


What I did
I cant decide if I like eggplant better with or without the skin but this time I pealed it. I started by cutting the pealed eggplant into ½ inch slices and rubbed each slice down with salt, this technique draws some of the water out of the vegetable and eliminates some of its bitter taste, it also keeps it from absorbing too much fat. I let it sit for about 15 min before rubbing the salt off with a wet paper towel.
I cut the slices into smaller strips and began to sauté them in olive oil. Once the eggplant began to soften I added the garlic, onion, stewed tomatoes, crushed red pepper, basil and rosemary. I turned the heat down to low and simmered for about 20 min , stirring frequently so it wouldn’t burn on the bottom.
Next the salmon, this is even easier that the stew. In a small bowl I mixed the white wine, lemmon juice minced garlic, and honey, until the honey was well blended with the other liquids. I sprinkled the salmon with olive oil and poured the liquid mixture over top, place it in the broiler and in about 5 min it was finished. The sauce gives the salmon a sweet glaze over top that is not too over powering. The lemon in the juice compliments the fish and the wine tames down the sweetness.Watch the broiler very carefully food tends to go from almost done to burnt an crispy very quickly, but if used correctly it can be a great tool to have .

I served my salmon on top of the stewed eggplant with a side of mashed culliflower ( culliflower boiled in gluten free chicken broth until soft enough to mash into a potato like texture).

The result:
Turned out excellent if I do say so myself. The salmon’s mild flavor was exemplified byt the sweet lemon glaze. The eggplant in the stew turned out to taste a bit creamy which was different for me but the rosemary and red pepper flakes complimented it very well. All in all a success and I highly recommend anyone try it. The amounts of liquid to mix will vary depending on how many salmon files you are cooking, when trying to measure just remember it’s a glaze not a soup. For mine I used about a 1/8th of a cup wine, a table spoon honey half of a lemon squeezed and one clove garlic. I actually had enough left over after cooking to reuse for the next time I make this dish.

Well that’s my post and I hope you enjoy!