Time for Change Fitness: Sicilian Roasted Stuffed Eggplant

Why Weight Training

Why does Time for Change Fitness promote resistance training?

Many people focus on calories alone. The slash and dash mentality develops destructive patterns, like extreme calorie cuts and/or excessive aerobics. This sets off an alarm-state in the body where the body sheds muscle tissue to lessen energy demands, and stores body fat as a survival response. Once this physiological state is reached, it becomes nearly impossible to lose any more weight no matter how many calories you cut or how much aerobic work you add. What you end up with is a person who is on a starvation level calorie count and performing excessive exercise, yet is still flabby.

The calories burned during an exercise session are relatively small compared to the amount burned during the other 23 hours of the day. Most fat oxidation occurs between training sessions, not during. This means your exercise sessions should primarily be geared towards building muscle and boosting your metabolism.

After a strength training session, the metabolic rate raises (the after-burn effect) for longer periods of time than after aerobic work (up to 48 hours). This is because all of the steps involved in the recovery process from strength training (satellite cell activation, tissue repair, protein synthesis, etc.) require energy (calories).

Friday, October 2, 2009

Sicilian Roasted Stuffed Eggplant

Sicilian Roasted Stuffed Eggplant- Make them and eggplant they can't refuse. I'm serious; an eggplant has no business having this much flavor.

Serves 4

2 medium-sized eggplants
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 cubanelle pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jarred roasted red pepper, chopped
salt and black pepper
a handful of pine nuts, lightly toasted
2 tablespoons drained capers
a handful of green Sicilian olives, coarsely chopped
1(28-ounce) can of San Marzano whole plum tomatoes or diced tomatoes, drained(reserve a few tablespoons of the juices).
1 cup fresh basil leaves, about 20, torn or chopped
1 pound fresh mozzarella or smoked mozzarella

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Prick the skin of the eggplants with a fork, place them on rack in the upper half of the oven, and roast for 20 minutes. Remove the eggplants and set aside for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle.

Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and cubanelle pepper. While they cook, cut up the eggplants. Split the eggplants in half lengthwise and cut away most of the flesh, leaving just a little attached to the skins to hold their shapes. Arrange the eggplant shells on a rimmed baking sheet. Coarsely chop the flesh and add to the skillet with the veggies. Add the roasted red pepper and season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the nuts, capers, and olives.

Add the whole tomatoes to the veggies along with a few spoonfuls of the juices to just moisten the veggies, using a spoon to brake up the tomatoes(skip this step if using diced tomatoes). Add the basil and stir to wilt the leaves into the vegetables. Spoon the vegetable mixture into the eggplant halves. Top with sliced mozzarella and bake for 10 minutes to melt the cheese and set the filling. Serve one stuffed half eggplant per person.

This recipe is from Rachel Ray-Just in Time!