What's For Dinner?

Tonight it was my turn to cook dinner, but when I checked the refrigerator there wasn't much to work with... one long, skinny Japanese eggplant, half a bunch of green onions, some almond milk, a scrape of margarine, a dozen eggs, and a doorful of assorted condiments. In the freezer I found most of a loaf of good whole grain bakery bread, assorted shredded cheeses, a stick of butter, and partial bags of frozen peas and corn.

I mulled over what I could make. All of a sudden I wondered if French toast could be savory instead of sweet. Turns out the internet told me it could. But what could substitute for the traditional maple syrup poured over traditional French toast? After a little more internet research I decided on a roasted eggplant and tomato pureed dip (which required swinging through the grocery store for tomatoes and flat leaf parsley).

The dip could be held more easily, so I started there. Japanese eggplant has very thin skin that doesn't need to be peeled, so I chopped it, along with 4 large plum tomatoes, all of the green onions, and 3 large cloves of garlic. I tossed the vegetables with a couple of 'glugs' of olive oil, added kosher salt/fresh ground pepper, and baked it at 425 degrees for 35 minutes. When the vegetables were done I let everything cool, then dumped it in the food processor, along with a large handful of flat leaf parsley, and pulsed until most of the chunks were broken up.

Dip

Forty-five minutes before it was time to eat it was French toast time. I combined 4 large eggs with a 3/4 cup of almond milk, a couple of minced garlic cloves, a handful of chopped parsley, a shake of onion powder, and salt/pepper. I put a couple of tablespoons of frozen butter in a baking pan and put the pan into the oven while it preheated to 400 degrees.

I soaked the bread slices in the custard mixture, placed them in the hot baking pan, then baked for 15 minutes/turned over and baked an additional 10 minutes.

Savory French toast

While the French toast was baking I nuked some frozen corn. Hubby Tony assembled the meal and set the table. 

My unusual recipe idea turned out to be pretty good, and since I made enough for four servings there is also enough for tomorrow night. I didn't write anything down, so even if I tried to recreate the dishes again they wouldn't be exactly the same, and that's okay with me.