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Vegan Red Velvet Cake

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Vegan Meringue Kisses

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Baked Eggplant Fries

I made some zucchini fries the other day from a recipe I found to get rid of some extra squash we had. They were fantastic. A couple nights later we had some eggplant to dispatch. I tried a similar recipe and made some of the best fry alternative ever. Here's the plan:

2 medium eggplant - I used white Santorini but don't think it matters

1 XL egg - beaten in a separate bowl

1-2c fine cornmeal (you could use flour, I like cornmeal's texture)

1tsp ea. - garlic powder, salt, dried thyme

pinch of cayenne (if you want)

1.5c Panko bread crumbs ( in 1/4c installments)

Directions:

Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise after cutting off the top and bottom. Cut those halves lengthwise again leaving you with 4 thin planks. Cut those 4 planks in half across, leaving 8 short planks. Cut the planks into strips about 1/2" or so. You can eyeball it. You should now have a lot of "fry shaped" strips of eggplant.

Place cornmeal in a bowl. Beat the egg with the salt and other seasonings in a separate bowl. In a third add the Panko. Use just enough Panko to cover a small handful of eggplant strips at a time. The Panko will absorb moisture and won't stick anymore so you will have to add more for every handful of strips.

Begin with a small handfull of the eggplant, about 5 pieces for me, and dredge them in the cornmeal. Shake off the excess. Now dip them in the egg mixture. Shake off the excess. Finally dredge them in Panko. You will want to replace the Panko for the next batch.

Place the breaded strips on a large sheet pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. It's important that they don't touch each other too much.

Do this until you have no more eggplant left.

Bake for 15-20 minutes on 425. turn them halfway through to brown evenly. You can cook longer if you wish but the longer you cook them the less eggplanty texture you will have.

When these are done you will have some of the best eggplant ever. Serve this to people who swear they don't like eggplant. A little tzatziki would be nice with these as well.