Eggplant Sandwiches

I am SO far behind with this blog. We have had so much delicious food lately (think pan-fried fish with squash salsa and salad greens, angel hair pasta with tomato and basil...) that I haven't had time or energy to blog about. (And some of it, no pictures.)

Before I talk about all that though, I have a book recommendation. 

(source here)

Warning: this book may very well change your life. It might also make you cry, laugh, and possibly both at the same time. It might make your heart swell so much you think it'll burst. It might make you want to go to Italy so bad you can taste it. You may, after reading this book, find yourself tearing up over oranges at the grocery store, understanding fully what you're doing by buying oranges from California when you live in Alabama, but not knowing what else to do at this point. You may, after reading this book, go completely insane and want to buy a farm.

All of the above? Yep. That's me.

Luckily, I can assuage some of my orange-guilt soon, because we're going to start subscribing to a local CSA (community-supported agriculture) called GrowAlabama. It makes my heart happy. We will get a box of fruits and veggies every week, all grown locally and organically, for about the same price as I pay for a weeks' worth of (not-organic, not-local) veggies at my nearby grocery store. Plus, farm eggs!!! So exciting.

Anyway, onto the food. How appropriate, after talking about CSA, that my recipe comes from the Real Simple article about Farmer's Market recipes. I know some of you have made this, and some of you have actually blogged about it, but I wanted to make it as well. And blog about it. Mainly because it's just so darn pretty. 

(Yes, I am one of THOSE people. The people who think vegetables are some of the most beautiful things on God's green earth. The people who love to shop for these healthy treats, because they're not only yummy, but aesthetically pleasing as well.)

Without further ado:

Eggplant Sandwiches:

First, you want to find a really pretty eggplant. (Or an ugly one, even.) Slice it into 8 slices.

Like so.

Then measure into 3 bowls 1/2 c. flour, 2 beaten large eggs, and a cup of Panko bread crumbs. You're gonna dip those eggplant slices into the flour first, and coat them really well, then go to the egg, and let it drip a bit, and then the breadcrumbs, mashing them gently so they'll stick.

(my bowls, post-dipping)

And then, into a frying pan they go! You'll use 1/4 c. canola oil for the first four...

...then when they get all nice and brown...

...put them on a paper towel, and wipe out the pan, and do the same thing with another 1/4 c. canola oil and the other four eggplant slices.

Salt the eggplant while it's still hot, and then you can make them into sandwiches. The recipe suggests using 2 eggplant slices as your "bun," and layering tomato slices, roamine lettuce, goat cheese, and basil in between. We didn't have any romaine, so I used spinach. And I figure any sort of cheese would be pretty awesome, even though we did use the goat cheese it called for. They were so yummy, and a great vegetarian dish!

(I really do eat meat. I know it doesn't look like it, but I do. I just have happened to have some really, really awesome meatless recipes lately!)

And there you have it. The sandwich in all its glory.

Now, is that pretty, or what??

(P.S. Check back tomorrow morning for a pictureless-but-AMAZING recipe from Mrs. Ina Garten!)