Eggplant Parm Salad

During my recent blog trolling, I discovered the website The A + M Blog. This website has great recipes and they host weekly recipe contests. Each week they feature a selected ingredient. Readers submit their recipes for editors and other readers to test. The winning recipe each week wins prizes and will be featured in an upcoming cookbook. This whole process was intriguing to me, and my husband and I decided to throw our hat in the ring.

This week's contest ingredient is fresh mozzarella. We brainstormed lots of ideas for fresh mozzarella, and landed on eggplant parm salad. We were inspired by the deconstructed green sushi salad from Green Kitchen Stories that we tried last week. Our salad was designed to be a summer alternative to the traditional eggplant parm that requires oven time. (Please vote for our entry here.) The only down side of this plan is that it only used a little bit of purslane from the share. We will have to get back on the CSA bandwagon tomorrow.

Eggplant Parm Salad serves 4
1 C Balsamic vinegar
1 small eggplant, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1/2 C flour
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
6 oz arugula
small handful of basil, stems removed and torn into pieces
olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, cut into strips
2 tomatoes, cut into strips
salt
pepper

Pour the Balsamic vinegar into a sauce pot. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool and place in sealed container. It should be the consistency of a thick syrup. If it gets too thick, it can be thinned with additional vinegar.

Dredge an eggplant slice in the flour, then dip it in the egg, and finally dredge it in the breadcrumbs. Shake off any excess breading and transfer the eggplant to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining eggplant. Allow the eggplant to dry for 15 minutes once all of the slices are finished. Pour the oil to a depth of 1/4 inch in a small saute pan. Once the oil is warm, work in small batches frying the eggplant slices until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and season with salt to taste. Repeat with the remaining eggplant. Once cool, cut the eggplant slices into thirds.

Place arugula and basil in a mixing bowl and toss with 2 T olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Layer the greens, eggplant strips, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella on dinner plates. Drizzle the Balsamic vinegar reduction over the top.

Purslane Salad

I'm attending a farewell dinner this evening for one of our beloved staff members. She is off to new adventures and we are taking her to 5 Napkin Burger for dinner. I've never been there before and I'm curious to see what $15 burger tastes like.

Because I knew I would be out for dinner this evening, I saved the recipe from last night's salad for today's post. I was very excited to get three types of wild foods last week in the CSA share. The first one we're trying is the purslane. I tried looking up some recipes, but they were very sparse. The basic message I took away from my research was that purslane is similar to watercress. I have never prepared watercress either, so that wasn't too helpful.



Purslane looks like a jade plant with thinner leaves, and it's hard to imagine it tasting great raw, but it does. Here's the recipe:

Purslane Salad
2 C purslane, broken into bite-size pieces
1 radish, sliced
1 salad turnip, sliced
1/2 cucumber, sliced

Dressing:
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 T oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Mix the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the dressing in a separate container. I like to use a coffee mug and spoon- the handle makes it easy to grasp the mug and the spoon blends the oil and vinegar together well. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to mix.


Purslane