Oil Change

About a week ago a dashboard in my car blinked me a gentle reminder to change oil.
At first it lasted only 3 seconds or so. Then, as I put more miles, the red indicator  became more frequent and more aggressive: "Change my oil!!!"  
Annoying and destructive.
So, today I just drove to Toyota dealership to have it done.
And, while I was waiting there, a strange realization occurred in my head.  More or less but we all are good in maintaining our cars: we put gas in it every week, we change oil every six months, we take it for a regular check up.  All of it is done to avoid costly repair.
But what about ourselves? Do we care so much to put nutrients (not supplements!) in our bodies so we can "run"? Do we maintain ourselves  to prevent a costly repair?
As long as we are in the car "department", car performs better if it's moving. If you have one of those cool antique cars, you take exceptional care of it, right? You clean it, maintain it, take it for a ride to keep all of the parts working smooth...  
But when was the last time you treated yourself?

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And then I surprised myself. As soon as I put the question mark at the end of previous sentence, I went to the yoga class. Out of nowhere came that craving to treat myself with some stretches, twists, and flows.  It was gooood!

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Roasted Eggplants (another treat)

This is my "steak".  It is also favorite party food: I never had eggplant leftover. And roasted eggplants are very easy to make. Here is how:

Ingredients
1. 2 to 5 eggplants or as many as you need.
2. Salt.
3. Vegetable broth or plain water - 1/2 cup.



This eggplants need "sweating" (see below)



Remove the ends of eggplants, wash it, and cut it in half lengthwise, salt each piece and leave for 30 minutes to "sweat" (how my mom would say). Then rinse  the eggplants in cold water to remove excess salt, pat-dry with towel, and place cut side down on the baking sheet.

Add vegetable broth or water and bake in the oven at 425 F for about 20 minutes. Check for donenes: turn the eggplants cut side up, insert fork or knife. If it's soft, it's done. Little hard for fork to pass through, leave it in the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes. Each oven warms up differently, so adjust the time accordingly. Better yet - taste.

Serve on a plate as a "steak" with your favorite sauce.

That's a treat!  Leftover can be frozen.

Until next time,

Cowboy Country Vegetarian