The Cowgirl Chef: Duplicating restaurant favorites at home

Eggplant Parmesan pizzettas

These breadless “pizzettas” don’t have a crust, but with summer’s ripe eggplant, a tomato sauce, cheese and crispy breadcrumbs, they’re total flavor bombs — and isn’t that what we want anyway?

• 2 medium eggplants
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Sea salt and cracked pepper
• 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 6 medium-size fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella (2 balls in water), sliced into thin rounds
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
• Red pepper flakes, for serving (optional)

1. Heat oven to 475 degrees and line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Slice eggplants into 1/2-inch rounds and lay them out on the cookie sheets. Brush the tops and bottoms of the slices with olive oil and lightly dust with salt and pepper. Bake until browned on the bottoms, 20 to 25 minutes, then flip to the other side to brown for about 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, make tomato sauce: Mix crushed tomatoes with four basil leaves, roughly torn, along with 1/4 teaspoon salt and sugar and let rest at room temperature for a few minutes.

4. Arrange larger pieces of eggplant on one side of the baking sheet and the smaller ones on the other, making sure you have an even number of larger and smaller slices. Put a spoonful of tomato sauce on all of the larger slices, then add a slice of mozzarella, Parmesan and breadcrumbs. Dust the smaller slices — the “tops” — with only Parmesan and breadcrumbs.

5. Turn the oven to broil. Put eggplant slices back into oven until cheese melts and breadcrumbs crisp, about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven (I had mine on the middle rack and it took about 10 minutes). Put one or two slices on a plate and add a few more pieces of torn basil and hot pepper flakes.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 169 calories, 12 grams fat, 10 grams carbohydrates, 7 grams protein, 22 milligrams cholesterol, 236 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber, 64 percent of calories from fat.

Asian turkey lettuce wraps

These remind me of the wraps I’ve gotten at P.F. Chang’s, but I like them even better because I’ve used leeks for a softer flavor, amped up the mushrooms and left out the water chestnuts. They’re so easy to make, you’ll think twice before ordering them out again.

• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 to 6 tablespoons flavorless oil, such as canola or grapeseed
• 2 leeks, white parts and light green parts, sliced
• 1 pint box of mushrooms, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 (2-inch piece) ginger, grated
• 1 Thai chile, finely chopped, with seeds if you want it spicy
• 1 pound ground turkey (or chicken)
• Lettuce leaves
• 3 to 4 scallions, finely chopped
• 4 lime wedges

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the first four ingredients. Set aside.

2. In a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat, cook 2 tablespoons of oil with leeks until softened. Remove leeks, add more oil if necessary and cook the mushrooms until they’re browned; set aside.

3. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok or skillet, still on medium-high heat, and add garlic, ginger and Thai chile. Cook until you can smell the garlic (for a minute or two), then add ground turkey. Cook, stirring every now and then, until the turkey loses its color. Add cooked leeks, mushrooms and sauce, and stir until combined and warmed through. Serve on lettuce leaves, with chopped scallions and lime on the side.

Cowgirl tip: For appetizer-size servings, buy the smaller sucrine lettuces; for larger portions, buy a lettuce with larger leaves.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 398 calories, 27 grams fat, 17 grams carbohydrates, 23 grams protein, 90 milligrams cholesterol, 1,085 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber, 61 percent of calories from fat.

Baked falafel

These are crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. If you weren’t a falafel fan before, these will turn you into one.

• 2 cups dried chickpeas
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped white onion
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• Small handful of cilantro (stems included)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
• About 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon yogurt
• Pinch of sea salt
• Pitas
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 1 to 2 tomatoes, chopped

1. Toss chickpeas in a large bowl and generously cover with cold water (the beans will triple in size, so give them room to grow). Soak overnight.

2. Drain chickpeas, reserving about a cup of the soaking water. Put them in your food processor, and add garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, cayenne, cilantro, salt, baking soda and lemon. Pulse a few times until the mixture is coarse and uniform. Add some of the soaking water (about 3 to 4 tablespoons) to bring it all together. You want just enough water to moisten the mixture. It shouldn’t be too wet or it will be hard to form them into patties.

3. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment and brush each with 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil.

4. Using an ice cream scoop, make falafel balls and put them on the prepared cookie sheets. Press them down as you go, so they’re more pattylike, and leave 1 inch between each one. Brush the tops with olive oil.

5. Bake falafel balls until they’re browned on the bottom, about 15 minutes, then flip and bake an additional 10 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, whisk together tahini and yogurt with as much water as needed to thin it out a bit, along with some salt. You may also make this sauce without yogurt.

7. Let cooked falafels cool slightly before serving in pitas, stuffed with cucumber slices, tomatoes and tahini sauce.

Cowgirl tip: You can freeze the falafels you don’t eat right away. Reheat by placing them on a cookie sheet in a 450-degree oven for 15 minutes.

Nutritional analysis per patty: 112 calories, 4 grams fat, 14 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams protein, trace cholesterol, 189 milligrams sodium, 4 grams dietary fiber, 32 percent of calories from fat.

Pad kee mao

This is my absolute favorite Thai noodle dish, and when I started making it at home, I stopped ordering it out altogether.

• 8 ounces rice noodles
• 1 Thai chile
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 shallot
• 1 cup tofu, sliced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• Half of one red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
• Half of one white onion, sliced into thin half-moons
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sweet dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 4 large holy basil or regular basil leaves
• Lime wedges, for serving

1. About an hour before you want to cook, put rice noodles in a large bowl and fill with very hot (but not boiling) water. The noodles should soften to something slightly firmer than al dente, but will continue to cook once you put them in the wok.

2. Put next three ingredients in a small food processor and puree into a paste. (You can also do this by hand, but it’ll take longer.) Set aside.

3. Put tofu cubes in a couple of paper towels and give it a gentle squeeze to remove excess water.

4. Heat oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add tofu cubes and cook until they’re browned on all sides. Remove and let drain on paper towels. Leave the remaining oil in the wok.

5. Put bell pepper and onion slices in the wok and let cook until softened (if you like yours firmer, the cooking time will vary slightly). Remove and put in a bowl.

6. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil. Put cherry tomatoes in wok and cook for a minute or so, until slightly softened. Add tofu, red bell pepper and onion. Drain noodles and add them. Quickly stir, adding paste and fish sauce, soy sauces and sugar. Stir until everything is incorporated. Taste, and add fish sauce or soy sauces as needed. Divide into two shallow bowls or plates, top and toss with torn basil leaves, and serve with limes.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 733 calories, 22 grams fat, 122 grams carbohydrates, 15 grams protein, 2 milligrams cholesterol, 3,632 milligrams sodium, 4 grams dietary fiber, 26 percent of calories from fat.