Kids Dish

Yeah, I know. You thought I was going with eggs. Eggplant doesn’t seem like a very kid friendly food in the abstract. You don’t see it on many kids’ menus, that’s for sure.

But eggplants are a great kid food. They’re incredibly versatile, not expensive and easy to come by. They’re also rich in potassium and calcium, minerals that kids need.

The key to cooking eggplant is present it beautifully. You see, eggplants don’t always look terribly pretty after they’re cooked. They can look soggy and beige on the inside, not terribly appealing to children (or adults, for that matter).

They can also be bitter if you don’t take the time to prepare them in advance. To get the eggplant ready for cooking, especially something like roasting or grilling where you’re counting on the eggplant to add flavor, you’ll need to salt them beforehand. Slice the eggplant and sprinkle the slices with salt. Allow the salt to draw out the juices of the eggplant. My kids always find this pretty interesting - you can watch it happen. It takes about 20-30 minutes. Rinse the eggplant thoroughly before cooking to get rid of the salty flavor and the juices.

And now, for my favorite eggplant recipe ever - the kids love it, too!

Eggplant Napoleon

1 ear of corn, roasted or grilled, or frozen corn (canned will also do in a pinch)
1 red bell pepper, roasted or grilled
2 T shallots or onion, chopped
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T basil, chopped
5 T olive oil
8 tomato slices
salt & pepper

12 eggplant slices, 1/2 inch thick (round, not cut length-wise)
1/2 c grated Asiago cheese (you can substitute parmesan or romano cheese)

Combine corn, bell pepper, shallots, balsamic, basil and olive oil and mix well.
Grill or roast eggplant slices until tender. While you can roast in the oven, I find that grilling is more fun and brings out a great flavor.
Assemble a “napoleon” by layering eggplant with vegetable mixture, tomato slices and cheese, working from larger slices at the bottom to smaller slices on top. Warm to melt cheese.

It looks amazing and tastes even better.

eggplant