Mint Almond Flax Encrusted Pan-fried Eggplant Slices

Essentially a breaded eggplant recipe, much like for Eggplant Parmesan. But, rather than breadcrumbs, this recipe uses Almond, Flax meal and a bit of TVP for the crumb coating; and instead of egg for binding, buttermilk is used.

Ingredients
One small globe eggplant, sliced thin
Canola oil for shallow pan frying
½ cup buttermilk (more as needed) - in a shallow dish ready for dipping

Crumb coating:
¼ cup Almonds
3 Tbsp Flax meal
¼ cup TVP
8 to 10 Fresh mint leaves
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
salt to taste

Dusting:
½ cup brown rice flour (more as needed) in a large flat plate

Preparation

1. Salt the eggplant slices, allow to sweat on a towel, rinse, pat dry, keep handy
2. Combine the ingredients for crumb coating and grind to a fine powder
3. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a cast iron skillet
4. Dust an eggplant slice in flour, dip in buttermilk, then press down on the crumb coating till a layer adheres
5. Shallow pan fry the slices in a bit of oil, one or two at a time, flipping to cook both side, till the crumb crisps up and eggplant is cooked
6. Serve warm with Mint-Fennel Pesto or Tangy Tuscan dressing or Basil-garlic tomato sauce.

Tamarind Flavored Crunchy Roasted Bitter Melon

Almond + Flax meal being a favorite alternative to bread crumbs, many dishes come into existence just because a thought popped into my head about combining a few favorites...

Bitter melon (Chinese Fu Gwa) is a cucumber-shaped fruit which has a lighter skin and thicker flesh than the Indian bitter gourd which is typically smaller, darker, more ridged and textured and quite intensely bitter.

I like bitter melon for some dishes and bitter gourd for some others.

To reduce the bitterness, salt the chopped bitter melon and leave them on a towel to drain for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the almond meal as in Almond + Flax meal encrusted chicken nuggets recipe.

I like the concentrated goodness of tamarind in this rich dark Tamicon™ tamarind paste and I use it in many Indian recipes. Alternately, for a milder tamarind flavor, try the Vietnamese Sour Soup Base sold in most Asian stores.

The sourness from tamarind and sweetness from agave nectar, combined with the crunchiness from the almond meal makes this a wonderful side for an Indian meal of brown rice and pippili rasam.

Ingredients
1 or 2 bitter melon, Chinese Fu Gwa
½ Tbsp Tamicon™ Tamarind paste
½ Tbsp Blue Agave nectar
salt to taste
1 Tbsp oil

Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F
2. Chop the bitter melon into rings (remove pulp and seeds) and sprinkle salt on them and lay them out in a single layer on a towel for 15 minutes; rinse and drain; then, toss them with tamarind and agave nectar and par cook them in the microwave - still firm, not mushy, but turns translucent
3. Press the par-cooked bitter melon rings into the almond+flax meal mixture
4. Lay them out on a greased pan in a single layer, drizzle or mist some oil on top
5. Bake in a 400°F oven for about 12-15 minutes, checking part-way and turning the pan if needed

Remove from oven and serve warm with a favorite dipping sauce. I love it as-is. Even got the kids to try it. 

Almond-Flax Encrusted Baked Chicken Nuggets

Instead of the usual breading and shallow frying, this recipe for Chicken Nuggets uses seasoned Almond meal and Flax meal coating on marinated chicken pieces, baked tender and served hot.

We tend to have a small bag of flax meal in the fridge handy, to sprinkle on yogurt or curries to add some fiber. Some raw almonds are also handy for a quick snack. Raw almonds with dried cherries is quite heavenly. Just grind up some raw almonds to make the almond meal. Season with some dried parsley, paprika, salt, or any other favorite seasoning.

Any favorite marinade works. I used soy sauce, Tabasco® hot sauce, a bit of canola oil, Italian seasoning. Marinate overnight if possible, or marinate in the morning and refrigerate it to be cooked for dinner that evening.

This is one of the easiest recipes, ready in 15 minutes or so, and thankfully, one of the dishes that kids absolutely relish. It is quite uplifting to hear, "Can I have more of this, Mama?"

A quick dip I like is equal parts ketchup and Sambal oelek - a nice sweet-hot sauce. Another is some Light Cesar dressing with spicy stone ground brown mustard.

Ingredients
Breading:
Almond meal, flax meal, paprika powder, dried parsley, salt as needed

Chicken nuggets:
Marinate the chicken breast in a favorite marinade overnight; drain and cut into strips  of fairly uniform size

Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425°F
2. Press the chicken pieces in the breading mixture and lay them out in a single layer in a roasting pan, spray some cooking spray if desired
3. Bake at 425°F for about 15 minutes, checking half-way through and turning the pan as needed, till chicken is done
4. Serve warm with favorite dips