Summer meals

It is hot, hot, hot, here today. I've been making jam so the house is overheated . I had no choice. The peaches and nectarines, at the Farmers Market, were to good to pass up. I'll tell you more on those when the jam is finished.

So for dinner tonight I wanted something quick involving minimum mess and fuss.

I am trying to cook my food using minimal oil and fat so while I was at the Farmers Market I decided that a warm eggplant salad, cous cous and chicken tenderloins would be just the shot.

This is it without the chicken (for the vegetarian of the house).

Warm Eggplant Salad with Cous Cous, Tomato Kasundi and Baba Ganoush.
 Serves 2

Equipment

1 sharp knife
1 cutting board
1 frypan with lid
1 sandwich press (electric grill)
1 metal bowl
plastic wrap
bake paper

Ingredients

Eggplant salad
1 small eggplant
2 small onions or 1 large
1 zuchinni
2 large ripe tomatoes - diced
1 teaspoon ground coriander 
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup chopped parsley

Cous Cous

 1/3 cup dry cous cous
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon preserved lemon skin - finely chopped
boiling water

1 jar Tomato Kasundi
1 tub Baba Ganoush

300 grams of chicken tenderloins.
1 teaspoon Lemon pepper

Method

Preheat the sandwich or electric grill.

Cut the eggplant into 1 cm slices and cook between 2 sheets of bake paper in the grill.

While it is cooking put the cous cous in a metal bowl with the parsley and lemon and just cover with boiling water.
Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Cover the bottom of the fry pan with water or vegetable stock.
Slice the onion and zuchinni into thin slices and heat covered in the frypan.
When the eggplant is cooked add it to the frypan with the cumin and coriander. Cover with the lid and allow it to steam over a low heat until the liquid is nearly gone.
Add the diced tomato and parsley and cover again. Turn off the heat. Leave it to sit while finishing up.

You could also do all this is in a plastic bowl in a microwave if you wanted too.

After the eggplant is cooked add the chicken tender loins to the grill press.
Sprinkle with the lemon pepper.
Cover with a piece of bake paper and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.

Pile the cous cous and vegetables on a plate add a big spoon of baba ganoush and tomato kasundi.
Top with chicken if you want it.

Cooking the vegetables in water or stock rather than oil gives this dish a fresh and different flavour. Tradition tells us to fry in oil but try this method and see and taste the difference.