Garlic Roasted Eggplant Fries
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.”
― Alice Walker, The Color Purple
Eggplants are fun. So often people just pass them by in the store. How can you? They are like a shiny rotund little Bacchus of vegetables; lazily lounging against their neighbors. So pick up one of these little party people and class up that dinner!
It’s easy to say Eggplant Fries are delicious (because they are) but it is so hard to mess up a roasted vegetable. The roasting merely enhances the flavors of veggies. And, imbuing it with classic combinations like extra virgin olive oil and garlic just knocks it out of the park. Truffle oil?! Oh, my. Might as well just open a bottle of wine. Enjoy!
Garlic Roasted Eggplant Fries
Serves/ Yield: 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook/ Assembly Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 large eggplant, cut into “fries”
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil or olive oil in a sprayer bottle
- 2 tsp. Garlic powder
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- Optional Topping: Coarse Sea Salt, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Truffle infused olive oil, parmesan cheese, chopped Italian Parsley
Recipe:
Preheat an oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lay the fries in an even layer a baking sheet (if your eggplant is quite large you may need two baking sheets. In the event of this, change your oven settings to 400-degree convection bake or roast and stagger the sheets in the oven – meaning push one as far back as it will go on the rack and put the second closest to the door on another rack.)
Sprinkle with or spray olive oil onto the fries, then sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to evenly coat the fries. Don’t be afraid to use your hands you can achieve a very even coverage this way.
Roast for 15 minutes. Use a spatula (not a good time to use your hands) and toss/flip the eggplants and make sure they are spread back out into an even layer. If you are using two baking sheets flip flop their locations in the oven. Return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes until there is some nice browning.
Remove from the oven top with any combination of garnishes. No wrong answer here!
Options and Notes: The skin on eggplant can be a bit tough. Cut into fries it will be fine but feel free to give them a rough peel. If you choose to peel them you may still want to roast the peeled skins with the fries because it turns really crispy and is quite yummy too!
Categorically Speaking: Whole 30, Paleo, Side Dish, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner