Good Eating's Vegetarian Cooking by Chicago Tribune

Author:Chicago Tribune
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Agate Publishing
Published: 2015-10-23T15:13:31+00:00

Crispy eggplant layered with arugula and tomatoes

Crispy eggplant layered with arugula and tomatoes

I love the taste of fried eggplant in recipes, but I don't like what the usual ingredients — oil for frying and eggs with cholesterol — can do to my body. So I experimented until I discovered a way for breadcrumbs to stick to the eggplant — resulting in a crunchy outside and a soft, moist inside — without using egg and without frying the slices.

Achieving these results proved easier than expected. The technique turns eggplant in the following recipe into an elegant tower of vegetables or enhances any dish that calls for crunchy eggplant.

Prep: 35 minutes

Drain: 30 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Makes: 3 servings

1 medium-large eggplant, unpeeled, sliced in 1/2-inch rounds

2 cups fine breadcrumbs, toasted

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup soy milk

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salad and dressing

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 small shallot, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

3 cups arugula, tightly packed

3 medium tomatoes, ends trimmed, each cut into 4 slices

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle eggplant slices with salt; let drain on a rack set over a cookie sheet, 30 minutes. Blot dry, removing some of the salt.

2. Meanwhile, measure breadcrumbs and pastry flour onto separate plates; season each with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Mix soy milk into the mustard in a shallow bowl. Press each eggplant slice on both sides into the pastry flour, shake off extra flour; dip each side into the soy milk mixture and finally into the breadcrumbs. Place coated slices on a parchment-covered cookie sheet. Bake, 35 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, for the salad, whisk together oil, vinegars, shallot, salt and pepper to taste. Toss arugula in a bowl with 1 tablespoon dressing. Layer the vegetables on three serving plates: first the largest eggplant slice, then some arugula, then a tomato slice. Repeat twice. Drizzle half the remaining dressing over the towers.

4. Slice any leftover, smaller slices of tomato and eggplant. Mix with remaining dressing; circle the outside of the eggplant towers as a garnish.

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