Antipasto

One of our favorite things to have at Uva is the antipasto plate: roasted red peppers, eggplant, a little bit of cheese, a few different types of cured meats, and one or two types of olives, on top of some mixed greens. This week, I replicated a few of these things, plus some cold, cooked marinated beans, for a super flavorful and easy weeknight dinner. On Sunday, Mike cooked some duck legs on the barbecue. (They were goooood.) While they were roasting, I prepped and marinated the vegetables. They cooked over the still-hot coals on one side during dinner, and after dinner, I turned and finished them. Stored in the refrigerator, the flavor has intensified over the week. The marinated vegetables are good on top of salads, or as a flavor and vitamin punch in a grilled sandwich.

Roasted Marinated Eggplant and Red Peppers

Ingredients
Eggplant, cut into 1/4 inch slices
Sweet bell or gypsy peppers, seeded, stems removed, cut into 1/3s or 1/4s
Salt
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Tools
barbecue with waning coals (not flaming hot)
tongs
knife
two large bowls

Method
Cut eggplant and toss in a bowl with enough salt to lightly sprinkle all sides, set aside
Cut peppers and place in a separate bowl, mix with olive oil and a pinch of salt
Add balsamic, then olive oil, to eggplant. How much? Sprinkle the balsamic with your thumb over the spout until every piece gets an even spattering, then add enough oil to dress each piece. The extra will drain to the bottom. After you place the eggplant on the grill, if you don't have enough marinade left to re-toss midway through, add more to your bowl in a 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 oil ratio.
Place peppers on the grill, grouped together, and eggplant, also grouped together.
Turn peppers after 10-20 minutes, depending on the heat of your grill. Peppers should be brown to black in places on the cooked side.
Eggplant (it will stick to the grill, don't worry about it) will begin to dry out and also be brown to black. Re-toss with marinade and place back on the grill.
After cooking, place both vegetables back in their original bowls and toss. If you'd like to peel the peppers, cover bowl with plastic wrap or a plate, allow to sit for ten minutes and slip off skins. I skip this. I'm a peel eater.
Cool vegetables and store in refrigerator.

Giant Beautiful Beans

Ingredients
Any kind of bean, soaked, the bigger the better (these are Rancho Gordo Christmas Limas) I like cannellini or, even better, giant Italian "Corona" beans. I've only been able to find the giant ones in Napa at Genova deli, but they are awesome.

White wine or rice vinegar
Olive oil
Shallots or red onion
Salt and pepper

Tools
knife
boiling pot with lid or pressure cooker

Method
Cook beans until soft, but not breaking apart. Method for cooking beans fairly quickly without soaking: Put beans and lots of cold water in pot. Bring to boil, boil for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, cover for 1 hour. After 1 hour, return to heat and finish. This is a good way to make beans if you have things to do in the middle of the day. Boil while you are making your coffee and eating breakfast, cover, go out and get stuff done, come back and boil again when you are ready. If you have a pressure cooker to cook beans, you are a lucky duck.
While the beans are boiling, slice 2-3 shallots or 1/2 of a red onion thinly (depending on the quantity of beans you've chosen to make)
Place shallots in oil and vinegar. You'll adjust quantities once you get the beans in, so just make sure the shallots are covered at this point.
The important thing is that the beans, once cooked and drained, go into the oil and vinegar hot to warm. They'll soak up more flavor this way.
Drain the beans and toss with marinade and shallots. Allow to come to room temperature, tossing periodically, before refrigerating. They'll taste better the next day, though I can't resist eating a few warm ones out of the bowl. Adjust to your taste with more oil or vinegar, or both, and salt and pepper.

For the antipasto plate, I use a few slices of prosciutto, a little pile of each of the vegetables, and the beans, a slice or two of hard cheese, like Parmesan, Manchego or Cabot cheddar, and a little handful of mixed cured olives from the store, on top of a pile of mixed greens, not dressed (there is plenty of olive oil and vinegar to go around). We've had such an abundance of tomatoes from the garden that I made up a couple of caprese salads as well, with tomatoes, basil, soft fresh mozzarella, balsamic, olive oil, and coarse gray sea salt.