Giada's Kitchen: Fresh tomato and goat cheese strata and grilled eggplant salad

Today's post is a two-for-one recipe deal. As a reaction to my white, empty fridge, I bought too much produce to feed one or two people. I couldn't resist the colors. I will need to cook two meals a night this week to avoid wasting food. Luckily, I'm still procrastinating my medical school application and personal statement writing AND the New Italian Kitchen has a trove of
summer vegetable recipes. So I celebrated the arrival of tomatoes with a tomato and goat cheese strata accompanied with an eggplant salad and pork chops.

Fresh tomato and goat cheese strata with herb oil
(makes 3-4 servings depending on the tomatoes)

6 oz goat cheese at room temperature (see note)
1/4 cup heavy cream
kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup walnuts (I used almonds, it tasted great)
2 ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick

Herb oil:
3/4 cup parsley leaves
3/4 cup basil
1/2 cup oil
kosher salt and pepper

1. To make filling, combine the goat cheese with the heavy cream. Whip the two together with a fork until the filling is smooth and light. Season with salt and pepper.
2. To make the herb oil, combine the herbs in the food processor and pulse them together until they are coarsely chopped. With the machine running, stream in the oil and process the herbs until the mixtures appears smooth yet flecks of herbs are still visible. Set the herb oil aside.
3. Toast the nuts in a small dry frying pan over medium heat. Remove the nuts when they have darkened slightly.
4. To make the strata, use two slices of tomato per strata. Place a slice of tomato on a small plate. Top the tomato with some goat cheese filling and a few generous drops of herb oil. Cover the goat cheese with another tomato slice and cover the second slice with more goat cheese filling and then generously drizzle the goat cheese with herb oil and toasted almonds.
5. Repeat the steps until you run out of tomato slices.
Note: each tomato slice requires about 1 tablespoon of goat cheese

Grilled Eggplant and goat cheese salad

5 baby eggplants, ends trimmed and sliced into 3/4 inch circles
lots of olive oil
3 tablespoons goat cheese crumbled
1/4 cup herb oil from above recipe or
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil and
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Toss the raw eggplant slices in olive oil
2. Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Place the eggplant slices in the pan and fry each side until brown, about three minutes.
3. Decant the fried eggplant into a large flat dish. Gently toss the eggplant with the goat cheese, herbs/ herb oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. If you use dry herbs, add olive oil.
4. Rearrange the eggplant on the dish so it lies flat.