Eggplant Breakfast Sammiches

The Farmer's Market is like my Disneyland: the happiest place on Earth. I've been trying to get to the Farmer's Market downtown on Saturday for quite a while now. It just seems like my Saturdays are so busy that I just can't spare the couple of hours it would take to drive downtown, find a place to park, and wander through the market, visiting all the wonderful vegetable stands. A few years ago I hit up a Farmer's Market that was closer to me, but I wasn't overly impressed with the offerings.

This week I'd woken my son up early because he needed to go shopping for some school stuff and I didn't have all day to wait around. As we were out shopping, it dawned on me that we were in the vicinity of the local Farmer's Market. With not too much protesting, he agreed to go with me. I was still in "turbo mode," trying to get everything done, so I hit the stands with gusto. I was impressed with how much the market has grown since I last went. Lots of farmers, lots of selection and great prices. They still didn't have the local meats, but the fruits and vegetables were in abundance. I found a few new items, too: purple "green" beans, lemon cucumbers and donut peaches. I've seen donut peaches before (at like $3 a pound or something like that) but the purple beans and lemon cucumbers were brand new. How fun!

I found some eggplant that looked incredible, too. I usually don't pick up eggplant at the grocery store because it often isn't fresh. Obviously much safer at a Farmer's Market.

But what to do with it? There are so many options, but many of those are boring. I did a little Google-ing and found some unique recipes. I took a few suggestions from each and came up with these little sammiches. My kids were not a fan, but I loved them and my BF said they were "very tasty." They're quite dense, so you will probably only serve one or two per person, with a side of fresh fruit. The guys got bacon on theirs, but of course mine was sans bacon.

The recipe has several steps and you can do the baking in any order you like. I did the pepper first, then the bacon, then the eggplant.

Ingredients:
1 large red bell pepper
1 medium eggplant (bigger ones have more seeds, so I avoid those)
3-4 T. coconut oil
Sea salt & ground black pepper
8-12 slices bacon

1 cup raw cashews
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup water
Dried (or fresh) basil
Balsamic vinegar

Directions:
For the pepper: Set oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil - but do not grease. Wash bell pepper (but leave whole) and set on baking sheet. Roast, turning every 5 minutes or so, until pepper is slightly charred on all sides. Put in a mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit, allowing the heat from the pepper to "steam" the skins off. When cool enough to handle, pop the center out by pulling gently on the stem, then peel. The skin should slide right off without much effort. Slice into strips.

For the bacon: Set oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange bacon in a single layer, not touching. Bake for 15 minutes or until crispy. Let cool.

For the eggplant: Set oven to 400 degrees. Using a mandolin or sharp knife, slice eggplant into thick rounds (mine were 3/8 inch). I got 18 rounds - so 9 sammiches. Be sure to get them as uniform as possible to ensure they cook evenly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange eggplant slices in a single layer. Touching is fine, but not overlapping. Melt coconut oil. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat eggplant slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Flip, coat with coconut oil, sprinkle salt and pepper. Bake 3-4 minutes, flip, then bake an additional 3-4 minutes.

For the stuffing: Combine cashews, lemon juice, sea salt and water in a blender. Pulse until cashews are well chopped, then blend on high speed, stopping to scrape sides frequently, until desired consistency is reached. It should be creamy, but some chunks of cashews will remain. Transfer to a small mixing bowl (to make assembling easier).

Now, to assemble:
On a fresh baking sheet with fresh parchment paper, arrange half of the eggplant slices in a single layer. (Use a mixture of bigger and smaller slices so they can be matched to another slice of similar size when you top them with the other half of the eggplant slices). Layer with pepper slices, then top with cashew stuffing. Sprinkle a little basil over each, then drizzle a small amount of balsamic vinegar. Layer bacon over stuffing (breaking pieces in half or even thirds if necessary), then top with remaining eggplant rounds. Return to oven and bake about 5 minutes, just enough to heat it up. Serve with a side of fresh fruit.