Roated Veggie "Chips" PLUS Quinoa

A friend wrote to me:
"i'm sure you know this and might already prepare it but...this is a wonderful treat we have been feasting on. we got an extra virgin olive oil infused with roasted garlic ... not a cheap overpowering one...we've been slicing eggplant very thin (especially when it's the long lavender ones) brushing them with olive oil, sprinkling some seasoning and baking them on an olive oil brushed cookie sheet. some come out like chips and others are softer and all are addictive!

 on the bigger fatter and darker eggplants we put the kosher salt on the thins slices until they sweat, wash that off to kill any bitterness and then bake at 350 like the aforementioned ones. they are filling and fabulous."

My family wasn't crazy about the eggplants, and I wasn't crazy about the whole salting, rinsing, and drying process.  However, the suggestion did inspire me to make some simple roasted butternut squash and, my old favorite, sweet potatoes.  While eggplants are low in fat and very popular in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern diet, nutritionally speaking, eggplants pale in comparison to their colorful, vitamin packed neighbors.

For both the squash and the sweet potatoes or yams, I peeled them first with a serrated vegetable peeler. I cut the squash length-wise to scoop out the seeds.  Then I sliced them up real quick with my Inexpensive Folding Mandoline Slicer.  Instead of using the vegetable holder that came with the grater, I use a Kevlar Gloves that I ordered at the same time from Amazon.

I cooked both vegetables around 200 C / 400 F until they took on some nice color.  I served the sweet potato chips with THIS simple buckwheat dish, and I served the butternut squash slices on top of quinoa as follows:

Quinoa in the Pressure Cooker

1. Carmelize a chopped onion with olive oil in the bottom of the pressure cooker.  
2. Add 1 part quinoa and 2 parts water or broth.
3. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes, then turn off fire. 
4. After pressure comes down natural, open and stir.  Let it sit covered if there is extra water.

It comes out tasting rich and buttery, and is delicious warm or cold.