Pistachio Crusted Eggplant Cutlets with Homemade Fries

*UPDATE* I made this dish yesterday, and proposed some changes to make it better.  I made the changes I suggested today, it made ALL the difference in the world! With thicker steaks, and a thinner spread of sauce, the dish was perfectly balanced, not too savory, not too sweet. Just right as the golden haired girl of fairy tale legend would say.*


Too, any leftover sauce can be used to make a sweet sauce pizza. On French bread, pitas, or pizza dough, really any bread-type food, cover it with the sauce then put some of your favorite cheese (Dairy or soy) and put under the broiler or bake it. Yuuuuuuuuuuum.

I found this recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine. I decided to give it a try as a sort of meat-and-potatoes alternative, so I paired it with homemade fries.  You could really serve it with whatever you want, pasta, rice, quinoa, whatever your heart desires.

I really enjoy all the ingredients in the mixture. However, I think it was a little bit too sweet for my liking, or I needed to make the eggplant slices a little thicker to balance the sweet sauce. Also, the structural integrity of the eggplant wasn't great at that thickness. I recommend making them 1/2 inch thick. (I'm making it again tomorrow with the leftover eggplant and sauce, so hopefully making the cutlets thicker will work out better.)

The potatoes are delicious. It's a way to get your French fry fix without the risk of eating them at a restaurant and not knowing what kind of fatty oils (Or animal products.........) they put in. Use whatever cooking oil you like, I like Smart Balance or soybean oil. I got the recipe from an episode of Barefoot Contessa (Ina, I love you so much, please don't ever change). 

Serving size: 2-3 people

• Ingredients
• 1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
• 6 oz. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
• 2 jarred roasted red peppers, drained
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 medium eggplant (1 lb.), peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (6 to 8 slices each)
• 1 potoato
• cooking oil of choice

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 375°F, and coat baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Blend pistachios in blender or food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to plate or shallow bowl.

3. Add sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and garlic to blender or food processor (no need to rinse),  and purée until smooth.

4. Spray 1 side of each eggplant slice with cooking spray, and place sprayed-side down on baking sheet. Spread 2 Tbs. sun-dried tomato mixture on each eggplant slice, and sprinkle with 1 Tbs. ground pistachios. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until eggplant is tender and pistachio topping is browned and crispy.


5. While the eggplant is baking, heat up whatever oil you choose in a pot on high heat. Peel and cut up the potato into "fry" shape (Or whatever shape you have your heart desires). Soak them in cold water for 30ish seconds. THEN THOROUGHLY DRY THEM. Hot oil + H2O= painful splattering of hot oil that WILL BURN YOUR SKIN. Put the DRY pototoes in the oil and fry them until desired brownness (I like a nice golden brown). Make sure you stir them occasionally so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. When they're done cooking, pull them out, drain off the excess oil, and lightly salt them with fresh ground sea salt.


Katie's Notes: Other than making the cutlets thicker, no notes! This recipe is very straightforward.