Baked Eggplant Appetizer
 
1  large Eggplant      
            Olive oil      
1  large    Onion -- peeled & quartered      
3  Garlic cloves -- unpeeled      
1  Red bell pepper -- - halved and seeded      
1  teaspoon    Oregano -- chopped      
2  teaspoons    Lemon juice      
1  tablespoon    Olive oil      
1/8 teaspoon    Each salt and pepper      
4  ounces    Feta cheese -- crumbled      
2  tablespoons    Parsley -- chopped
Pita bread or crackers

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Halve eggplant lengthwise. Brush all sides with olive oil. Place halves cut-side down on a baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes. Brush onion, garlic and red pepper with oil; add to eggplant. Bake 25-30 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender.

Cool eggplant; scoop out flesh and place in a food processor or wooden bowl.

Squeeze garlic pulp from skins, peel red pepper, and add to eggplant along with onion, oregano, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Process or finely chop by hand. Do not puree. Mix in 3 oz. of the feta cheese.

Spoon mixture into a serving bowl. Sprinkle remaining feta cheese around the edge of mixture; mound parsley in the center. Serve with pita bread or crackers.

Anneli Rufus: Medieval Energy Bars: They're Back!

It's dark, chewy and protein-packed. It's fruity-sweet and studded with nuts. Sticky on the inside but smooth on the outside, it travels well. It's history's first energy bar.

For the Brave:

For the courageous souls looking to expand their culinary expertise past Top Ramen and Pizza Rolls, head down to the harbor for some good, old-fashioned seafood shopping.

Dining Out: Menu's modest, but you'll leave Breeze happy

It's hard to imagine a tougher gig in the highly competitive restaurant business than being the executive chef at a prominent hotel. You must oversee 24-hour room service, lunches and dinners to feed sometimes hundreds of people in a tight timeframe at weddings, conventions and special events, food for a steady stream of daily meetings - and oh, by the way, operate a restaurant that can be ...

Short ribs long on flavor: Invest a bit of effort (and long, slow braising) for a truly succulent entree

Once considered a cheap cut consigned to bargain shoppers, these days beef short ribs are found on the trendiest restaurant menus. It takes time and some thoughtful preparation to coax them into succulent tenderness, but your effort will be richly rewarded.

The (Local) Food Network

Salmon and English muffins? Check. Lemony chicken—heavy on the lemons—that’s my unfortunate specialty. God-awful scrambled eggs, sweet potato hash gone wrong, dreary pasta sauce, burned meatballs. The list goes go on and on. Those who know me are distinctly aware that I’m a wretched cook.