SPICED BEAN SNACK

Finding good tasty and healthy salty treats can be tricky especially if you are travelling.
I for one, have always preferred salty to sweet food.
Have you ever noticed how there isn't much salty snacks or treats out there?
It is a conspiracy, I tell ya!
All the protein bars are sweet goowy lumps with the usual culprits, the all-pervasive peanut butter, chocolate. You have cookies, muffins, bars, but not much salty stuff. Sure you have potato and corn chips, roasted salted nuts and pretzels but it works if you want a mega dose of sodium in your system and virtually no nutritional value. That's not what I am looking for! That is until I found this amazing recipe and played with it.
This is the coolest thing. Check this out:

You can use any beans you like. I used 1 can of garbanzo beans (good source of healthy fat), a can of black beans, a can of red beans. If you use canned beans, rinse them well several times making sure that you don't damage them in the process. If you prefer cooking your beans, do it the day before.
Pour all the rinsed beans into a large bowl. Sprinke with garlic salt, any dried herbs you like (garlic, pepper, French herbs) and some olive oil is perfect.
Mix gently with your hands making sure again that you don't damage them.
Pour on a baking sheet making sure you have a single layer and the beans
don't overlap.

Bake for 40mn at 350F. After 20mn, mix it up a little so that the beans are cooked all over.
Let it cool before serving and tasting. You can pour them on a paper towel if you want to remove some of the oil so it is cleaner to handle when you eat them. Store the mix in a ziploc bag after they are completely cooled off. It keeps forever, well just about!

Some of the beans will be dried, others will be lightly crisp. No two bites will be alike.
Since I discovered this great recipe, I always carry a small ziploc bag with some in them in my purse, just in case I need a little energy boost.

That's is such a cool way to get a shot of protein!
Get creative, you can try all kinds of seasonings (Mexican, Indian, Chinese etc).
If you like a little cheesy taste, sprinkle some nutritional yeast on top.
Go to town and let me know if you have come up with some really cool seasonnings.
I am counting on you!

EGGPLANT CAVIAR

Ok, so after an extended trip to the South of the border (3 Mexican recipes in a row!), we are going over to Europe, to the South of France where I come from, for a delicious appetizer. Traditionally, this recipe is served cold in the summer but you can also serve it warm in the colder months. It calls for the big round purple ones but you can also used the long Asian ones. There are many varieties of eggplants and all are beautiful and delicious. The only thing is to make sure that they are firm and without blemishes otherwise, you will get a lot of seeds and little flesh.

Some cool nutritional facts:

1. Eggplants are rich in water (92%), in minerals (magnesium and zinc) and high in potassium (260 mg/100), making it a great natural diuretic.
2. They are also rich in easily digestible fiber if steamed or baked (forget deep frying!)
3. The skin is high in anti-oxydants.
4. They are good for people with type 2 diabetes because they are high fiber with a low glycemic index.
5. If you track your calories, you will be happy to know that it is one of the lowest calorie vegetable (18 kcal/100 g), making it comparable to tomatoes, endives or lettuce.
6. More recent studies even states that it can also help lowering cholesterol. Apparently, they have discovered that eggplant captures the fat and prevent it from seeping into the blood stream. That's why, if you try to fry it, you will have to use a ton of oil because its fibers absorb everything! So skip the frying and instead steam or bake and let the fiber absorb the internal fat!

No wonder, it is one of the star of the Mediterranean diet!
So why not splurge and start incorporating it in your diet?

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
    - 2 eggplants
    - 1 medium onion
    - 1 tomato
    - 3 Tbl olive oil
    - 3 Tbl lemon juice
    - 1 garlic clove
    - Fresh basil an parsley (optional)
    - salt & Pepper

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 300F
2. Place whole eggplants on a baking dish and bake for 35mn until the flesh is soft when you touch it.
3. Remove the eggplants from the oven. Without burning your finger, slice them in half lengthwise, and with the help of a soup spoon, scoop out the middle.
4. Place the flesh in a thin thieve to drain the excess water (remember it is a sponge).
5. Slice the onion and the garlic thinly.
6. Gently heat a little olive oil and add the onion and garlic until golden. You can add a little water if needed. Note: If you can digest raw garlic, skip this step.
7. Blanch the tomato. Boil some water, make a cross on top of the tomato. Drop it quickly and remove it so that you can easily peel it. Remove the seeds and dice it. 
8. Place the eggplant, onion, tomato and remaining ingredients, except the olive oil in a blender or a food processor and blend. Add the remaining olive oil and blend again. Taste and season more if you need.
9. Pour into a nice dish, cover and refrigerate for a few hours.
10. Serve with crackers, on sliced french baguette and with cut raw vegetables.

Yumm!

BONUS RECIPE:

If have even less time or don't have a food processor, you can slice the eggplants with the skin, place them in a large salad bowl.  Sprinkle with a little garlic salt and drizzle with some olive oil and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon. On a lightly oiled baking tray, sprinkle with a little garlic salt and drizzle with some olive oil. Bake at 350F for 15mn, flip the slices and drizzle a little more olive oil, bake for another 5-10mn. Serve with rice, or quinoa, or in a sandwich. It is soooo good and sooo simple!

Enjoy!