Avocado fries & eggplant soup

Thanks to reddit, I found a recipe for avocado fries. I’m a sucker for avocados, and a sucker for crunchy fried things, so I HAD to make them. No really, it was a total compulsion. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Anyway, let’s just say they were perfect. There really isn’t any other way to put it. Do check out the link above for the full recipe, but here’s the gist of it:

Avocado Fries

• Avocados
• Salt
• Flour
• Eggs
• Panko crumbs
• Canola oil
• Parmesan (optional)

Slice avocados into wedges. Salt lightly.

Lay out shallow bowls of salted flour, beaten egg, and panko crumbs.

Heat canola oil to a depth of about halfway up the side of an avocado wedge; maybe a little deeper. I went for about medium high heat on our electric stove and it worked well.

Dip wedges first in flour, then in egg, then in panko. I find this works best if you use forks rather than your fingers, because fingers always seem to smudge and pull away the coating more. Just use a different fork for each layer of coating, dropping the avocado wedge into the next bowl in the series.

Fry the wedges for 30-60 seconds on a side until golden brown, and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with parmesan if desired. Eat right away.

Fantastic alone, or with a sweet chili sauce; I imagine thousand island dressing would also be a good choice.

Then there’s the incredibly simple, frugal, and healthy eggplant soup we made off-the-cuff the other day. Here are some rough directions for folks who don’t mind winging it a bit. The amounts are rough because, frankly, they just don’t need to be precise. This recipe has a lot of tolerance for variation.

Eggplant-Chickpea Soup

• Olive or canola oil
• One eggplant, chopped
• Red curry spice mix or paste (for the exact mix we used, go to Auntie Arwen’s and search for “red curry”)
• 2 to 3 cups stock (chicken, turkey, beef, or vegetable)
• 1 to 2 cups water
• One can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• Salt to taste

I heated up about a tablespoon of oil, then dropped the chopped eggplant in, and added about a teaspoon or so of the spice mix. I sauteed this until the eggplant was nicely coated with spices, then added the stock, water, and chickpeas (I used homemade turkey stock). I brought it to a boil, lidded it (with a crack left open), lowered it to a simmer, and simmered for about an hour and a half, until everything was soft and falling apart (add more water if too much boils off). Adjust seasoning to taste. You could blend it at this point, but it’s also great as-is.

If you use a curry paste instead of a dry mix, you’ll probably want to heat a little stock, blend some paste with that until smooth, then add the eggplant and go from there (leaving out the oil).