Yummy Eggplant Fries
July 6th, 2009 at 11:00am Jenny Levison
Today’s challenge is convincing my 5-year-old, Jonah, to try eggplant. He has been keeping careful watch on the purple jewel growing in our front yard all week, and today, he proudly proclaimed it was time to pick it. But harvesting and eating are two different things, and for Jonah—who truly believes that a red gummy bear has tomato in it—this will be a toughie!
Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, but it’s true that it’s a veggie that must be prepared thoughtfully. I love a summer ratatouille with eggplant, squash and zucchini, all of which can be grown in your back yard; but making the veggie kid-friendly takes some serious experimentation and exercises in child psychology!
I went with a French fry theme—knowing that Jonah thinks I consider French fries junk food—and it worked like a charm! He took the bait and was willing to try French-fried anything!
Yes, this particular recipe calls for canola oil, but remember you aren’t eating a big bag of them. I find that they make a perfect side dish to a simple filet of grilled fish or chicken, and I plan to try them out as an appetizer at my next get-together.
Enjoy!
Eggplant fries with Garlic Aioli
1 large eggplant, peeled and cut lengthwise into long slices
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons Italian or Creole seasoning
6 cups canola oil
1 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Beat eggs and milk together in one bowl. Mix flour and seasoning in another bowl. Heat the oil in a heavy-duty, tall pot for about 5 minutes. Dip eggplant slices in flour, shake off excess, and dip in egg mixture. Dip once more in flour and fry until golden brown on all sides. Drain on paper towels. Salt and pepper to taste. Keep fries warm in a 250-degree oven until you’re ready to serve.
To make the garlic aioli, blend mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper in a food processor. Serve with eggplant fries to dip.
Entry Filed under: Food & Recipes, Guest Blogger
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed