Author: Kara Steele ‘21
Have you ever been to your local farmer’s market? Going to the farmer’s market can be a really fun way to support local businesses and connect with the community (especially now since they are mostly outdoors and socially distanced). Visiting farmer’s markets can also be a good way to learn more about the crops grown in your area as markets often offer local, seasonal produce. While it is fun to try new things and eat super fresh food, eating local, seasonal food can also reduce your environmental impact and food waste. By eating food grown closer to you, you can reduce the energy needed to transport the food to you and reduce necessary packaging. Eating local can also minimize food waste as over 50% of food waste happens when the food is in transit or storage.
Lately I have been finding a lot of eggplant at my local farmer’s market, so I went on a hunt for some tasty eggplant recipes. The winner so far is plant-based eggplant parmesan, which is featured below.
Ingredient list:
- Two to three small to medium sized eggplants
- Salt (1 tbsp + ¾ tsp)
- Water
- Flour (4 tbsp)
- Breadcrumbs (Italian preferred)
- Garlic powder
- Italian seasoning
- Pepper
- Nutritional Yeast
- Marinara sauce
- Spaghetti
- Optional: Parmesan or plant-based cheese
Steps:
- Wash and cut the eggplant into quarter inch slices. I usually use two to three small- to medium-sized eggplants. Fill a bowl with a tablespoon of salt and a quart of warm water and mix. Then add two more quarts of cold water and the eggplant slices and let sit for 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 450˚F.
- Prepare your dredging liquid. In a bowl add about a ½ cup of water and 4 tbsp of flour and stir.
- Prepare the breading. In a separate bowl, add: 2 cups of breadcrumbs, ¾ tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, and pepper to taste. Pour this mixture onto a plate.
- Prepare your assembly line. Line up the bowl of dredging liquid, plate of breading, and a pan lightly greased with olive oil.
- For each slice of eggplant, dredge it in the dreading liquid and coat it with the breadcrumb mixture and put it on the pan. If the breadcrumbs on the plate get too saturated with liquid they may stop sticking, so mix in some dry breadcrumbs if needed.
- Bake the eggplant slices for 18 minutes, then flip them and cook for another 10 minutes. Check their tenderness with a fork. If the eggplant is still chewy or tough, you can cook it longer until it becomes more tender and less bitter.
- If you want, you can add a sprinkle of parmesan to the slices when they have about 5 minutes left to cook, but you can opt to leave this step out for a more plant-based meal.
- I like to serve it with marinara sauce and spaghetti, but feel free to mix and match as you prefer! Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from page 103 of 30 – Minute Vegan Dinners by Megan Sadd.
This series is brought to you by student group, Greening Dining
