For The Italian In Me

It's been pretty dreary here in New York.  I was headed out the other day to grab some sushi before work and the second I got outside it started pouring.  I turned right back around and decided to make some comfort food.  My favorite food is spaghetti with fried eggplant.  I didn't have time for all of that in one meal so here are are two separate meals I had this week. First I made some homemade sauce with thick spaghetti.

Make sure to top it off with some extra virgin olive oil, freshly grated cheese, and fresh basil.

Earlier on in the week, I made a fried eggplant sandwich. For this sandwich you will need:

-Two fried eggplant slices

-Two slices of swiss or provolone cheese

-Thinly sliced tomato

-Thinly sliced cucumber

-Thinly sliced onion

-Whatever kind of roll you like

-Italian balsamic dressing

Vegan Potato Salad

This recipe is easy, tasty, and especially awesome for people who don't really like mayo. There are no measurements here because you can adjust the amount to how many people you are serving or to your own taste, depending what type of ingredients you like the best.

-Yukon gold or red potatoes, chopped into large bite-sized pieces
-Fresh serrano or jalapeno chopped small
-Celery, chopped small
-Carrot, shredded
-Fresh chopped basil, you could also use fresh dill or parsley
-dill pickles, chopped
-tbsp or two or pickle juice
-salt and pepper to taste
-chopped scallions, or you could use red onion
-Dijon-Style Nasoya Nayonaise

Start with cold water and the chopped potatoes. Boil until tender. Drain and add to the bowl of vegetables. While still warm, add the Dijon-Style Nayonaise and the pickle juice. Stir and add fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Stir again.

Naysoya Dijon-Style Nayonaise tastes so good, you really dont need to add that many other ingredients.  It makes this recipe so easy and tasty. I also make a macaroni salad using it.  If you dont like spicy, omit the chile peppers.  If you like bacon in your potato salad, add some bac-os bits.  If you dont like pickles, you can omit these also, but it's my favorite part of the recipe.

I paired the potato salad with an avocado/tomato/swiss sandwich, topped with new orleans muffaletta olive spread.