Eggplant at Our House??? Who Knew?

We have NEVER liked eggplant. Ever. Well, we got some in our CSA, and you know me: I didn't want to waste food, especially fresh farm grown food, so I started researching. I found a recipe for fried eggplant and then added my own variations, and the result? Not a stitch of eggplant was left! The entire family lapped it up, even me!

Okay, so one of the secrets is an amazing sauce, which we were fortunate enough to eat tonight as well. Make this first and let it be simmering while you make the rest:

4 pounds of fresh, mixed tomatoes, half of which need to be flavorful Romas!

Blanch these by putting them in boiling water until the skin starts to blister, then dump into ice water to cool. Pull the skin off and chop into chunks, or pulse in your blender until it's a little smooth with some chunks still in it.

Meanwhile, in a large pot saute in 2-3 T of olive oil, 1 large chopped onion and 5 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced.

Add the following to the pot:
tomatoes
3 cans tomato paste
2 T raw apple cider vinegar
4 T vegetable broth powder (see recipe for it here)
2 t dried oregano
3 T fresh basil, chopped
2 t fennel seed
1 1/2 t sea salt
Add veggies of your choice. I threw in a couple of summer squash, sliced. Spinach and mushrooms would be tasty, too!

Simmer for 30-60 minutes.

Slice 2 eggplant, lengthwise, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.

Make batter by combining a little more then 1 cup chickpea flour (made by dumping dried chickpeas in the high powered blender and plug your ears while it blends until smooth), 1 t sea salt, 3/4 t chili powder, 2 t garlic powder and 3/4-1 c water. You want the batter a little thicker then pancake batter consistency, not too thick or it will slip off of the eggplant.

Dip the egg plant in the batter on both sides and fry in coconut oil. Make sure the oil isn't too hot to smoke, but just hot enough to fry until golden brown. Flip and do the same to the other side. Layer your eggplant between paper towels so that it's not too greasy.

Boil water and cook your favorite pasta and serve pasta, eggplant and sauce. You can sprinkle Parmesan or hemp seed if you wish. Mwah! Delicioso!

p.s. okay, that picture wasn't that great, it's a post-eating picture trying to move things around to look good, because I really wasn't convinced this was going to taste good. After a few minutes of bliss, I said, "Get the camera OUT! This is sooooooo GOOD!"