Cravin' Taters? Try some eggplant :) Step by step + photos

That sounds yummy.  Lately I have been making on tray of the eggplant and then cutting up zucchini, yellow, calabaza, and/or chayote squash (whatevers cheapest that week), rubbing the slices with olive oil and sprinkling some seasoning and parmesan cheese and letting them go about 25-35 minutes in the oven, flipping a few times in the middle and adding more parmesan cheese as I go.  They get soooo delicious.  Esp. the parm!  It makes mini cheese crisps intermixed in the squash.  The shredding sounds like I could get to that brown yummy place faster...I'll have to try that.

Do you just use a plain grater?  or some other tool?

Yum!!  I am glad its shopping day!!

I have a spirooli (as seen on TV!) from my raw vegan days :}. A regular shredder works, but you might want to tamp the zuc if it gets too wet from maceration. Some graters I have had just were not sharp enough for my liking and made things too wet. 



Here is my most favorite marinade for vegs, meats, use as a drizzle on steamy vegs, as a salad dressing drizzle on sandwiches!

1 cup is a "batch"

1/2 cup oil (orginal recipe calls for regular oil, I use zesty italian dipping oil because it already has spices in it)
1/4 cup **low sodium tamari/soy sauce *original recipe* (I use Braggs Aminos)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar  *orginal recipe* (I use balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze, or balsamic vinegar mixed with this pomegranate molasses stuff I love!)
****pots of fresh garlic smashed

**note, using low sodium or the Braggs is important, I thought it was not that big a deal the first time because I do not have issues with sodium, but its a taste thing, not so much of a low sodium for health issue.

I let the vegs sit in it overnight, or the meat or whatever and then I will roast them.

A REALLY yum thing is if you roast the veg until they are caramelized and then you take a broth and get all of the caramelized gooberness out of the pan - that broth is really rich, like a french onion soup broth!  Yumz! 

Thank you for the good ideas on grocery shopping day! 

I also have a counter top convection oven (which made me need a huge convection oven when we had to replace the stove) and its the best for making things crispy!

Can you still get the Spiroli on TV or anywhere else...that looks great and a super way to get in some veggies.

I saw you could get it on amazon, I got mine from Kmart, but that was more than a handful of years ago.

Thanks...I'll look for one...we don't have a KMart amymore so I'll check Amazon.

B

Hmmm, I'll have to try that.  I've only had eggplant as a casserole (marinara, lots of cheese) and that was quite a few years ago.  I do get a craving for fries and this may hit the spot.

I've been craving eggplant lately.  I'm definitely making this!

Thanks for the recipe, I am going to try it. Kinda embarrased to say I've never actually tried eggplant lol, but I will certainly give it a try. I also agree - you can't tell the difference in the low sugar ketchup at all! 

The spirooli - I think I am going to buy one. I have tried the zucchini pasta before and it tastes great but the worst part is the consistency, ya know? There is no way I've found to get the pasta noodles thin, so I've just eaten them thick. This little contraption seems to be the answer and it even shows pictures of zucchini on amazon. Thanks for sharing! 

How to pick a less seedy eggplant. Eggplants come as male or female.  A male eggplant is flat on the bottom and the female has a dimple on the bottom, kinda like a small belly button.
The female has the most seeds. And to remove moisture from the eggplant slices, salt the slices, place them in a colander with a weighted plate on top of them. Let them sit for about 30 minutes, them rinse the salt off them. Pat dry with paper towels and continue with your recipe.