Thursday, August 19, 2010

MY KIDS ATE EGGPLANT!

I am seriously jumping up and down. If you follow me on twitter, you have seen the series of tweets where, be still my heart, my oldest, my picky eater, my refuses to put anything that isn’t slathered in marinara sauce and cheese in his mouth ate TWO of these.

I thought I would die.

It was amazing. I was validated. Dear heavens, the children ate, and enjoyed, eggplant.

Ok, some background. We are part of a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, in early spring, we signed up and wrote a check, and for 25 weeks, we are getting a portion of the crops from the farms that participate. Ours is very affordable (about $15/week) and we’re getting local organic produce that was harvested a day or so before I get it. If you have access to one, I highly recommend them. (Check the local farmer’s market!)

Ok, so we had eggplants from our CSA. I like eggplant. Most of my crew, husband included, not so much. I don’t know that I like eggplant enough to eat four of them before they go bad. So, I was on the hunt to find something I could do with them that everyone might like.

Here’s what I found. (As with other recipes, I’ve linked to a printable recipe at the end of this post, but I’ll just tell you, it’s “general guidelines” more than it is a recipe. This one can easily be altered to meet your needs and tastes without harm!)

I peeled and cubed 4 medium eggplants. Eggplant discolors quickly once peeled, but that is not an issue, so don’t be afraid of it!

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Throw those cubes into a bowl and then into the microwave – cook on high 2-3 minutes, stir, and cook another 2-3 minutes until the cubes are super-tender.

While those cook, I threw some garlic and basil into my food processor. I meant to throw in some onion, but I forgot. You should do that. If you don’t have a food processor, I’m sorry you want to fine chop each of these ingredients.

You’re also going to need some bread or cracker crumbs to act as a binder. Personally, I used herbed stuffing mix that I crushed.

Now, mash the eggplant to a paste, mix in the garlic, onion and basil, and let sit a few minutes to cool slightly. Then add some grated cheddar cheese, a couple of eggs and mix well. Add the bread crumbs until the mixture forms a dough-like ball.

Shape mixture into patties and fry over medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes per side until browned.  DSC04870Serve piping hot!

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My kids ate theirs with some marinara for dipping. I ate mine plain. Delish!

Printable Recipe Card

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3 comments:

  1. Looks great! My kids enjoy sliced eggplant on homemade pizza.

    Mary Ellen

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  2. Over here we call it brinjal, and the kids almost have the same reaction to it.

    When it's cooked in spice and chilli it's great, but for the kids it can be fried too, when it's sliced like chips and can be a bit sweet sometimes.

    Happy eating...

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  3. wow!! that's awesome! i definitely have to disguise stuff too. my kids don't like hamburgers though, but you could probably put eggplant in anything!

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