A few weeks ago we signed up for a produce delivery service called Boston Organics. Its a little like a farm share, except way cheaper, and not necessarily local. But every other week we get a green box filled with organically grown fruits and vegetables. The one surprising benefit to this, besides the fact that I have to do less shopping for fruits and veggies, is that I get things I would normally never buy. For example, my first delivery contained (among other things) an eggplant, and 3 sweet potatoes.
The sweet potatoes were easy enough. I just peeled, chopped, and roasted them with a little salt and oregano. Laura didn't particularly like it, but I thought they were fantastic. And then last night, I made some eggplant parmesan. And boy did it come out great. Nice and crisp. Well seasoned. Even Laura thought it tasted great.
Basically it goes like this. Cut up the eggplant, salt both sides, and let it rest on a rack for half an hour so some of the water is expelled. Then dip the slices in seasoned flour (1 cup flour, 1 tsp pepper), beaten egg, then a breadcrumb mixture (breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, salt, pepper). Bake (at 425) the slices on a sheet with a few tablespoons of vegetable oil for 30 minutes. Flip the slices after 20 minutes. Then assemble: Sauce, Eggplant, Mozzerella Cheese, Sauce, Eggplant, Sauce, Mozzerella, Parmesan. Bake the whole thing for another 15 minutes so its nice and crispy on top and the cheese is melty. I cut up some basil for on top but totally forgot about it. We served it over a little angel hair. Mmm. I can't wait for leftovers tonight!
(Yes, clearly a geek!)
i can't wait for our farm share to start. it is also organic, but local. i'm a bit of a local-produce only freak. ask dave.
as for the sweet potatoes - i often make a type of oven-baked sweet potato fries. put olive oil in a pan. insert cut up sweet potatoes (skin and all) sprinkle with cumin, cayenne, paprika, salt and pepper. cook at 400. stir every 15 min or so until browned and DELIGHTFUL. laura would totally dig those.
you have to check out this blog called veganlunchbox.com. it's teetering a fine line between obsessive and good parenting.
I see C. already beat me here. Yikes, she's quick :)
I can't wait for our timeshare. I didn't know you guys were doing something similar! We're getting ours from redfirefarm ( http://redfirefarm.homestead.com/files/index.htm )... we got the optional fruit farmshare as well.
We'll be sitting pretty and toxic free this summer!
Well except for the air pollution, and lead paint and well.. I'll just stop thinking about it. :)
Peter, would panko work for eggplant? Made me think about the chicken parm you posted here a while back.
Also, not like a farmshare, you have a little choice in what you get. Well, specifically you can ask never to receive certain items. Which is nice, since I really don't want to prepare any bitter greens.
Kim -- Panko would definitely work. In fact the recipe called for very coarse breadcrumbs. I cheated on that and just used regular store-bought breadcrumbs. I didn't have quite panko to bread the entire eggplant.
Peter how much comes in a box? Danielle and I eat a ton of fruit that I get from the produce mart, but half that shit comes from india or spokane. Take a picture and email it to me. I need proof.