CSA Wednesdays: Tomatoes & Eggplant + Eggplant "Bacon"
I had a real dilemma in planning this post. I thought eggplant and tomatoes deserved their own post, but there were two problems:
1. I don’t have very many eggplant recipes.
2. Most of my eggplant recipes also have tomatoes.
Because they play so well together in dishes, I thought they’d be cool with sharing a post, too.
Let’s get started, shall we?
I think tomatoes are kind of a diva vegetable. Their fiery red color and ability to conform to any type of cuisine gives you the impression that they like attention. They’re good performers, I’ll give them that much.
Our CSA farm has about 400 tomato plants which are doing quite well, I hear. We’ve been receiving baskets of gorgeous multi-colored cherry tomatoes and perfectly ripe larger varieties in our box for the past few weeks.
So… WHY did I order a 30-pound box of Romas from a neighbor with bulk produce connections? Because I’m insane, that’s why. I’ll tell you more about that adventure in a couple of days.
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| Pictured: Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili, Fried Green Tomatoes, Chevy’s Fresh Salsa, Roasted Vegetable Polenta Lasagna. |
Let’s focus on manageable quantities in this post, shall we? Here are a few of my favorite uses for tomatoes. (Even green tomatoes if you have a lot of those on hand.) If you click over to the Chevy’s salsa recipe, you can find seven more ideas!
Tomatoes
Fried Green Tomatoes
Vegetarian Sweet Potato Chili
Mulligatawny
Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce
Roasted Vegetable Polenta Lasagna
Chevy’s Fresh Salsa (Seven more tomato recipes in this post!)
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| Pictured: Toasty Eggplant Sandwiches, Pesto Eggplant Rollatine, Eggplant Curry, Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable Pie. |
Oh, eggplant. If tomatoes are the diva musical theater kids, I believe the eggplants are the yearbook nerds of the vegetable kingdom. Often odd looking and mysterious, get them in the right situation, and they can be an absolute delight to be around.
Hmm. Clearly I need more sleep. Or less congested sinuses.
*Trying to avoid discussing why I know so much about yearbook nerds.*
Got a few sitting on the counter? (Eggplants, I mean.) Try one of these recipes. I bet you could even get an eggplant-hater to like it!
And, like, always, I’m leaving you with a brand-new recipe. This one’s kind of quirky, so stay with me for a second.
Remember that mandoline slicer I told you to buy when I made zucchini “spaghetti”? Go get it out. It’s OK, I’ll wait.
Run a few eggplants over the “thin” slicing blade, then put them in a plastic bag with some wicked marinade.
Dry them out in the oven for several hours and what do you have?
Eggplant “Bacon”, that’s what.
Now don’t start munching on this stuff expecting a perfect match. (There is no perfect replacement for bacon. Ever.) It has a smoky, spicy flavor that reminds me of bacon. It’s fun to eat alone (like bacon) or put on a salad (like bacon) or on a sandwich (like bacon). See the uses for this?
And if I were a vegetarian, I would make this every week.
Crispy Eggplant "Bacon"
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch black pepper
pinch cayenneDirections:
Slice the eggplant to about 1/8-1/4” thickness. A mandoline slicer is recommended for this to create even slices.
Whisk together remaining ingredients.
You can layer the eggplant slices in a baking dish, pouring the marinade over each layer to ensure complete coating or if you're lazy (like me) throw the eggplant into a zip-top bag and pour the marinade in it. Let sit for 30 minutes.
Turn on oven to the lowest possible setting. Most ovens only go down to 170 degrees F. This worked just fine. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove eggplant slices from the marinade and arrange on the baking sheets. Place them in the oven, and “cook” for several hours, or overnight, until crispy. Actual time will vary according to oven temperature.
from Cara's Cravings
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| Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. |
perrysplate
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d.liff — September 28, 2011 @ 6:24 pm
Thanks! This recipe looks great! I've been making eggplant a lot lately – you should try my Picadillo Eggplant Boats (http://yellebellyboo.blogspot.com/2011/09/picadillo-filled-eggplant-boats.html) – Eggplant with a littttle tomato (paste).
I also loveee Cara's Cravings. Whenever I make a meal my boyfriend loves he usually asks if it's from that site :) Although yours is one of our favs as well!
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Jessica — September 28, 2011 @ 6:53 pm
Thanks, this will come in handy. We have tons of tomatoes right now too.
Your pictures are looking amazing these days, by the way. I'm impressed.
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Natalie — September 28, 2011 @ 6:56 pm
d.liff – Thanks for that link! I popped over and took a good long look at that. Then promptly put it into my file. :) I love the sound of all of those flavors together!
Jessica – Thank you! How are you feeling?? Brett sounds like he's helping a lot. Good luck with three kids! ACK!
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Sarah Junsay — September 28, 2011 @ 7:38 pm
The only thing I can concentrate on is that you WEREN'T USING THE GUARD ON YOUR SLICER!!!!! Hasn't Joe's experience taught you that much!!!!! Please, please don't slice your finger off! USE THE GUARD!!!!!! :)
And thanks for all the recipes. Joe has lost 4 pounds this last week by eating more eggplant & tomatoes. I'm needing more ideas!
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Natalie — September 28, 2011 @ 7:41 pm
Sarah – Thanks for looking out for me :) I was just posing for the picture!! Eggplants do have a "handle" (which makes it awkward to use the guard), and I never touch the purple part of the eggplant when I'm slicing. AND I always use the guard if I can. Trust me… I think about Joe every time I use it!!
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SkinnyMommy — September 29, 2011 @ 2:08 am
Oh my gosh every single picture you posted looks amazing. You take eggplant and tomatoes to a whole new level! :)
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Joanne — September 29, 2011 @ 2:33 am
Fresh heirlooms and summer eggplant are definitely two of my most favorite veggies on this earth! Love this round-up.
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Ann — September 29, 2011 @ 3:20 am
Hi Natalie! What a great post! I LOVE eggplant and the eggplant bacon is brilliant! I just made a funny little ragout with some eggplant I found – of all places – in the hospital! I just blogged about it yesterday!
I really love that you do a recipe round up! It gives folks the opportunity to pick and choose!
Have a GREAT night!
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marla {Family Fresh Cooking} — October 2, 2011 @ 1:01 pm
30 pounds of tomatoes!! Girl you have your work cut out for you :) The eggplant bacon sounds like fun. Your recipes are so creative and always something I would love to re-create over here :)
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Cara — October 2, 2011 @ 3:27 pm
So glad you liked the eggplant bacon! and thanks for the awesome roundup – I always love new eggplant recipes, especially from you!
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SeasonWithSpice — October 5, 2011 @ 3:58 pm
Hi Natalie – great to have found Perry's Plate through this brilliant eggplant bacon! Can't wait to try this!
Reese@SeasonwithSpice
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Terri @ that's some good cookin' — October 7, 2011 @ 10:17 am
"Sorry. I couldn't help myself," she shrugs with a thinly veiled look of innocence on her face…hahahahahaha!
Thanks for the bacon idea. Now I wish I had some more eggplant. As for the roma tomatoes, the next time you find yourself with 3/4 of a bushel of them, just slice them in half lengthwise, put them on some baking sheets, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, scatter torn basil leaves and broken chunks of garlic over them, then roast at 450-degrees to caramelize the tomatoes. While the tomatoes are caramelizing, chop a medium or large onion, cook in olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat until also caramelized. Toss everything into the blender (make sure you pour the drippings from the baking pan into the blender, too) and blitz it all to make some of the most amazing sauce you will ever taste. We use a pressure canner to preserve the sauce for use throughout the winter.
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