Breaded Eggplant with Spinach Pesto

This was a very tasty dinner, a little different than the traditional eggplant with tomato sauce.

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

for the Panko herb breaded eggplant:

• 1 eggplant, sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup flour, seasoned with salt and Italian herbs
• 1 cup Japanese breadcrumbs called Panko
• oil for frying the eggplant

for the Spinach Pesto:

• 2 cups fresh spinach, washed
• 2 tablespoons green olive tapenade
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• pinch salt
• dash lemon juice
• dash garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoons almond flour
• water to thin the mixture
• 500 grams (18 oz) whole wheat pasta
• tomatoes as garnish

Directions:

to make the pesto:

1. Put all the pesto ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree to an even mixture.

for the breaded eggplant:

1. Place the flour and herb mixture in a shallow bowl or saucer.
2. Place the soy milk in a shallow blow.
3. Place the Panko in a shallow bowl or saucer.
4. Slice the eggplant in 1/4 inch rounds.
5. Dredge both sides of each eggplant round in the flour mixture, then in the soy milk then in the Panko mixture.
6. Heat the oil in a frying pan.
7. We served the eggplants on a small bed of whole wheat pasta. If you choose to do so also, then at this time, start the pot of lightly salted water and when it comes to a boil, add the pasta.
8. Meanwhile, lightly fry the eggplant rounds until golden on each side.
9. When the pasta is ready, drain and mix a bit of the pesto sauce on the pasta.
10. Serve the pasta with a couple of eggplant rounds and a generous dollop of pesto on top.
11. We garnished the meal with slices of tomato.

Notes:

You can use many different greens to make the pesto, basil is the most traditional. We had fresh spinach on hand so used that. It was very tasty. You can also use any bread crumbs to make this, but the Panko are especially nice and add an extra crunchiness.