Not Fried Green Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Zucchini Recipe - Gluten free, dairy free, vegan

front yard fall garden bounty

Our delicious heirloom tomatoes are finally reaching the end of their season, after producing probably hundreds of the best tomatoes I've ever had. I swear Rachel feeds these plants magic or something, because everything she's grown is just amazing! As I was cutting the dead branches back, a few green tomatoes fell off the vine before their time. I couldn't let them go to waste, but I also couldn't bring myself to deep fry them. Not just because of the fat factor, but also the thought of letting all that oil go to waste (I can't handle wasting things at all). So instead of the usual fried green tomatoes, I made broiled tomatoes. In our front yard, we also had some eggplant and giant zucchini that were growing next to the tomatoes, so I added some of those into the mix, topped with some basil to make a filling front yard meal.

This is a pretty quick meal thanks to the high heat, making it perfect for a veggie-licious weeknight meal.

Not-Fried Green Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Zucchini (Gluten free, dairy free, vegan)

Broiled Veggie Rounds

Ingredients
2 cups of cornmeal
couple dashes of salt, pepper, and organic no-salt seasoning blend
egg-free substitute: 1/2 cup water and 3 tbs ground flax, 3 tbs olive oil
2 large green tomatoes sliced in 1/2" rounds
1 small eggplant sliced in 1/2" rounds
1 large zucchini sliced in 1/2" rounds

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Lightly grease two flat baking sheets.
Mix the cornmeal and spices in a wide bowl and the egg substitute (ground flax, water, and olive oil stirred vigorously) in another bowl. Or you could sub in 3 real beaten eggs for an egg-substitute substitute.
Dip the rounds in the flax/water mix, then the cornmeal, then back in the flax water, and place on the baking sheets.
Bake for 5-7 minutes. Flip each round and then broil for 5-7 more minutes or until soft on the inside and slightly crispy and browned on the outside.
Garnish with salsa for some southwest flair or marinara sauce for a lil taste of Italy.

healthier version of fried green tomatoes and fried eggplant

I went with the southwest flavor since we have so many hot peppers we need to eat up from our garden and I had made a side of blue potatoes, onions, and peppers. Here's how you can make this simple, filling side dish that cooks while you bake the veggie rounds.

skillet baby blue potatoes

Skillet Baby Blue Potatoes
Ingredients
1 cup of baby blue potatoes
2 slices of onion
1 habanero pepper
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup of water

Clean and slice potatoes thinly, slice and halve onion, and finely dice the habenero.
Cook in a wide pan in 1/4 cup of water, on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes
Once water is all cooked off, add in 2 tbs olive oil and pan fry for a few minutes until slightly crispy outside.

Simple Citrus Side Salad...say that 10x fast!

These fit very nicely in the center of the veggie rounds, but could go well with a variety of entrees. We also enjoyed this with a literally garden fresh salad of heirloom lettuce, thin onion slices, hand-squeezed orange dressing, and orange slices from the tree in the backyard. It's always fun when nearly everything but the salt and pepper come from your yard. This time we got to incorporate the front yard, back yard, and trees in the meal!

Date Butter Banana Ice Cream

Oh and to top it all off...Date Butter Banana Ice Cream. I got a delicious fall-spiced date butter at the Hillcrest Farmer's Market and had to make something with it. I whipped up some plain banana ice cream (frozen banana slices blended into ice cream in the food processor) and stirred in the date butter. So good!!! Lovin' life in San Diego. I feel so blessed to live in a city that is such an ideal climate for year-round plentiful home gardening and daily farmer's markets and health food co-op's for everything else. Oh and the scenery doesn't hurt either. We really are so spoiled!

Moon setting over the ocean as the sun rises from the east, painting OB gold

Mom, this is the picture of the hummingbird I took outside my window for you. Even the birds are loving fall's bounty:

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