Eggplant Un-Meat Balls

I continue with my love affair of vegetables.  I was a fortunate child who had a family full of gardeners, so for me it's easy to love veggies, even though corn was probably my favorite as a child.  Now, it seems corn doesn't have the flavor it used to, but that's a whole other story.

I keep staring out my window at my snow covered raised garden beds imagining what I'll fill them with this late Spring.   First to go in will be the spinach and lettuce, maybe even broccoli.  I can't wait!  Around these parts we have an old Indian saying about planting and it's usually incredibly accurate.  "Don't plant if there is still snow on top of Peavine mountain", which is a small mountain shadowing Reno's city limits.  The snow melts usually mid to late May on that mountain, and many a gardener is already chomping at the bit.  If you don't heed the Indian's wise words, you will probably be covering your plants with blankets, sheets or plastic (whatever works) when the snow flies.

I planted the small Asian eggplants last Summer, but they were over-watered, and didn't get enough sun.  I also planted them too close to the tomatoes, I guess.  I'll get this right one of these years!  

I used the larger eggplants for this recipe.  I sliced it in half, drizzled it with oil, placed in a baking pan, covered it and roasted on 400 degrees for around 35-40 minutes, to soften.  Then the recipe begins!

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, roasted and pulp scooped out.

1/4 cup panko crumbs and 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1 Tbsp basil, fresh chopped

1 Tbsp egg white

Put these items in a food processor and blend.  Refrigerate the mixture for at least an hour.   Using a spoon and with wet hands, scoop the mixture and roll into a ball.  I make them and place them on a parchment paper covered surface.  Roll the balls in additional breadcrumb or panko crumbs.  In a large skillet with 2 Tbsp of oil begin to fry them turning so most sides are nicely browned.

If you like eggplant, you'll love these...just another way to cook eggplant without immersing them in so much oil!  Voila!