Dinner tonight

Last night's dinner went well and the leftovers will be today's after school snack. The baba ghanoush recipe was particularly easy, just roasted the eggplant in its own skin on a cookie sheet covered in foil (prick like you would a baking potato) at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. The eggplant becomes soft and after it cools is easy to split open. The recipe called for scooping out the flesh, but I like a little of the eggplant skin.

Process in a food processor along with a couple of Tablespoons tahini and olive oil, juice of one lemon, a little salt and a few garlic cloves and voila!

Hummus is a similar process, just use your drained, cooked chickpeas in place of the eggplant (I cooked 1 lb. dry beans in 8 cups water, cooked in slow cooker on high for 4 hours- I used half for the hummus and froze the other half for later use) and the only additional ingredient is a little fresh water.

OK, for tonight's dinner I am making carnitas from Alice Water's cookbook. Very simple recipe. I have a pound of frozen pork shoulder already cut into cubes. I will also cook zucchini and squash- I had planned on serving this last night, but I ran out of time! Additionally, I am putting a pound of Pinto beans in my slow cooker for six hours. (8-10 cups of water, 1 lb Pinto Beans- no salt at first) After they cook I will add a little leftover bacon drippings and salt. Mash them and you have refried beans! I will serve the Carnitas with hard shell tacos with lettuce, tomato, and homemade guacamole.

Yum, my family loves taco night! Off to put on the beans.