Mima's Warm Red Salsa

Ingredients:
3 peeled tomatoes, chopped roughly
1/2 an onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large bay leaves
3-4 small, dried red peppers (or large red pepper flakes if you have no blender)
Olive oil
Mexican oregano
Salt
Chicken broth or water (if the tomatoes are pretty dry)

Directions:
1. Heat a medium sized saucepan over medium heat and add the peppers (or pepper flakes) . Toast them briefly, maybe 2 minutes, or until they've very slightly browned. Take them out of the pan and set them aside.

2. Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Add the onion and saute until translucent, then add the garlic and saute until softened. About 1 minute. Make sure to lightly salt the onion and garlic. Add the bay leaves. Meanwhile, use a knife to cut up a the peppers into pieces.

3. When the garlic and onion are sauteed and fragrant add the peppers (or pepper flakes) and diced tomato and continue sauteinng. The goal is to cook the tomatoes down to a point that you can crush them fine. If they seem too dry to crush and still be a sauce, add some water or chicken stock.

4. Once the tomatoes are saucy, and the peppers have been softened and broken up into smaller pieces you can either a) blend it in a blender for a smooth sauce or b) leave as is and spice with as much oregano and any extra salt needed.

Enjoy.

Eggplant & Chickpeas with Rosemary & Cumin

You will need:
1 smallish eggplant, diced into smallish cubes
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 can of diced tomatoes, or about 2-3 tomatoes blanched, peeled and chopped
2 cups uncooked spinach, roughly chopped (OPTIONAL)
1 tablespoon of cumin, or to taste
1 tablespoon of rosemary, or to taste
2 tablespoons oil (olive oil is preferred but not essential)
Salt and pepper

How to make it:

First, cut up all of your ingredients. Blanche and peel the tomatoes, cut them up. Cut up the eggplant, skin and all, then place in a bowl and drizzle the olive oil over, toss to coat eggplant evenly. Peel and mince the garlic. Open your can of chickpeas and drain them.

Saute the eggplant in a large pan until starting to become translucent and brownish, about 5-8 minutes over medium heat.

Add garlic, stir around and saute over medium heat for another 2 minutes.

Add most of the spices, reserving a little to add at the very end to add a fresher flavor.

Add the chickpeas and saute until softer, about 4 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and saute until it's not soupy or very wet anymore.

If you're adding spinach, you can add it now and wait for it to wilt and cook through.

Add the remaining amounts of spices, stir and serve! We ate it with crusty bread, breaded pork chops and salad.