Eggplant Schnitzel w Tomato Salad and Whipped Feta
A sexy and satisfying dinner to improve your mood (gluten-free)
It was Friday. In the morning, my wife and I had an educational meeting to attend for our daughter. This got me into work a bit late which meant I left work a bit late. I grabbed our daughter and wanted to go take her to the adventure room at our gym while I swam.
All day all I wanted to do was swim. I try and go three times a week. We got to the gym only to find the adventure room closes early on Fridays. Not exactly helpful for working parents, and I only slightly misbehaved at the front desk as I relayed my opinion.
I came home a bit upset. I know it is just swimming. I know the pool is open, as is the adventure room, quite often, but I couldn’t get over my disappointment. As is often the case in these situations, I turn to the kitchen.
Sometimes I have a plan (the last few posts) other times I am miserable and use cooking to clear my head. Both approaches can, and often do, yield tasty results. Last Friday, it gave us eggplant schnitzel.
You’ll need two eggplants. Remember, you will be serving the entire eggplant, so when selecting yours look for something that is small to medium in size.
Remove any stickers and give them a quick rinse. Yes, you will roast them and peel them, but still. Just do it. For me? Thanks.
Once they are ready, put them in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. You can do this up to a few days ahead of time. That said, please don’t go over 20 minutes, and don’t cover them to steam while they cool. They need to keep some structural integrity. They’ll come out looking like this:
While they are cooling, let’s make a tomato salad to serve alongside the schnitzel.
1/4-1/2 red onion, sliced in half moons
1-1/2c assorted tomatoes, chopped or halved depending
1/2 lemon’s worth of zest, and juice
1/4 of a cucumber, seeded and diced
1/2 salad turnip, diced
thinly sliced chili to taste
dill
parsley
salt + pepper
olive oil
vinegar (I’d suggest rice wine or red wine)
In a small bowl combine onions, tomatoes, lemon zest, two pinches of salt. Give it a little mix with your hands and then set aside.
While we are giving time to the salad, prepare some whipped feta.
4 oz feta
1/2c yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil
This is pretty simple. If you have a food processor or immersion blender you could certainly use them now. Additionally, a strong whisk and a bowl would also work.
I used a processor. I put all the cheese and yogurt and pulsed them together a bit. I scraped the sides down and then added the two tablespoons of olive oil as everything was being combined.
This could easily be vegan. If that’s a need, mix the following:
8 oz silken tofu
Juice of a lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
Now, my friends, it is time to peel the eggplant. The ease with which the eggplant will peel can and will very. This could also make or brake your willingness to remake this dish ;)
Tug on the skin and see if there is a natural breaking point. Start peeling from the there as that is the easiest spot to start from. Otherwise, you’ll need a paring knife. I like, aesthetically, keeping the stem connected to the eggplant — it helps identify what the dish is when it is time to serve it.
Use the paring knife almost at a perpendicular angle to the eggplant. You want to remove the skin, but keep the flesh as intact as possible. I would start just below the stem and work my way towards the bottom of the eggplant. This was the most time consuming step for me as I had one eggplant that was particularly stubborn.
When the eggplants are peeled you’ll want to flatten them out. On each of my eggplants there was a clearly soft spot from roasting and so I butterflied them with my hands from that spot.
I didn’t go back and further flatten them much beyond what I was able to accomplish with the pressure my hands. Next time I make these I will flatten them out a bit more as the final product was a touch thick by schnitzel standards.
Now we need a breading station. Good news is, this only requires two plates instead of three (there is no flour dusting). In a bowl, whisk together:
2 tbsp mustard (I used Dijon, but there are lots of options here)
2 tbsp mayo (vegan if you need it to be)
1 egg (use an egg replacer for a vegan option)
Then, on a separate plate, mix together:
2 c breadcrumbs
salt + pepper
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)
As you can see from the photos, the binding dip is quite thick. It will absolutely coat the eggplant and not drip off. After you coat both sides in the binder, press the eggplant firmly in the breadcrumb mixture. Flip is over and repeat.
You might need to refill the breadcrumb mixture. Additionally, in hindsight I thought these gluten free, panko breadcrumbs where a bit too big — like rice crispies. I will blitz them to be a bit finer next time. Again, I was cooking through my feelings. I’m thrilled I didn’t go to Burger King in response to my mood.
You’re pretty much how free now.
Pre-heat an oven to 200 degrees and place a wire rack over a sheet pan. We will put the eggplants on here to drain in the oven when we finish off the salad.
Pre-heat a few inches of oil in a pan on medium high heat. I used a non-stick pan, but cast iron would work just as well. I find at home I either use non-stick or cast iron. I don’t use stainless that much outside of soups and stews. Is that interesting? Who knows! Certainly a fun-fact, though.
The eggplant will only need a few minutes a side. Be careful when you flip them. You don’t want to grab the eggplant with such force that you crack the breading. After an additional three minutes on the second side, remove from the oil and place it on the wire rack in the oven. Repeat this process with the second eggplant.
When the eggplants are finished, add the rest of the vegetables to the tomato salad. Toss it a few times in the juices released by the tomatoes. To finish the salad add a tablespoon of olive oil and the lemon juice. Then add a tablespoon of vinegar. Give it a taste. It should taste good, but too vegetal. From here, add a tablespoon of vinegar at a time until you get it where you want it to be. For me it was two tablespoons.
It’s a good idea to taste your salads as you dress them. This way you can start to train your tongue to know what’s missing when you prepare other foods. For this dish, you want the vinegar to stand out against the fried element of the eggplant as well as the richness of the whipped feta.
To plate, divide the whipped feta evenly on the bottom of your dishes. Place the eggplant on top. Top with the tomato salad. Eat it and feel better.
***
I guess I do a fair amount of outing samples in this section. I cooked to Shuggie Otis last Friday and if “Strawberry Letter 23” sounds familiar it would most likely be due to Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson.” If you’ve never heard the original, give it a play. If you like it, give the whole album a listen. It’s all of high quality, and Otis presents a nice variety of styles on the record.
As always, thanks for reading. Let me know if you make this or have any questions.