Eggplant schnitzel
Crunchy delicious vegan eggplant schnitzel with a refreshing broccoli tabouli style salad
Ingredients
Schnitzels
- 140 gm gluten free flour 1 cup
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons cumin / ground
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 250 ml water / approx
- 3 cups crumbs Japanese Panko or gluten free rice crumbs
- 2 eggplants medium to large
- 140 gm gluten free flour extra
Broccoli Tabouli
- 300 gm broccoli 1 large head aprox 300 gm
- 2 bunch parsley flat leaf
- 1 bunch mint picked
- 1/2 cup shallots/ green oinions finely sliced 1/4 bunch
- 1 tomato medium sized
- 40 ml lemon juice 1 lemon (2-Tablespoons)
- 60 ml olive oil 3 Tablespoons
- 1/2 cup quinoa, Makes approx 1 cup
Tahini Drizzle
- 60 gm tahini 3 tablespoons
- 40 ml lemon juice 2 Tablespoons
- 60 ml water / approximately 3 Tablespoons
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
extra ingredients
- 500 ml vegetable oil
Instructions
"Egg" wash
- Mix the gluten free flour with paprika, cumin, and garlic powder. Whisk together well then mix in 3/4 of the water until you have a smooth mixture. Add more water bit by bit until you have a smooth batter that clings to your finger when you dip it in. Set aside.
Crumbing the eggplants
- Slice the eggplants into slices lengthways about the thickness of about 1 cm or 1/2 an inch. Set these aside
- Set up the flour , batter and crumbs all in a row. Prepare an extra dish of gluten free flour. Pour the crumbs into another large flat dish. Coat the eggplant pieces in flour. Dip into the batter and then the crumbs. Set the eggplant aside
Broccoli tabouli/ tabbouleh
- Start with the quinoa. 1/2 cup will make approx 1 to 1 1/4 cups. Rinse quinoa to remove any natural bitter flavour. Add the rinsed quinoa 1 cup of water to a medium saucepan, then bring to a boil. ( quinoa can be cooked in broth-stock too) Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed (10 to 15 minutes). You can tell that it's cooked when it is a little translucent and the quinoa looks like it has a tail a bit like little shoots. It’s cooked very similar to rice but takes a bit less time. Drain and fluff with a fork and season. Put into a bowl and set aside
- Put the pot back on to blanch the broccoli. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Throw in the broccoli torn into small florets. When the water comes back to boil, drain the broccoli and put it into cold water until it cools. Drain and shake well. Add to the quinoa.
- Wash and dry the parsley and the picked mint and chop some nice and fine and some leaves larger. You can use all of the parsley stalks and all. Add the chopped greens along with the sliced green onion (shallots) to the quinoa and broccoli. Dice the tomato into small dice (brunoise) adding any juices that come from the tomato into the salad
- Mix the olive oil and lemon juice with a bit of salt and pepper and mix into the tabouli mix
Tahini drizzle
- Mix the tahini, garlic powder and lemon juice together well. Gradually whisk in the water until the dressing is easy to drizzle from a spoon.
To serve
- Set up a tray with kitchen paper. Heat a large fry pan with about 5 to 6 cm oil (2-3 inches). Test the oil with a few crumbs to see if they start to cook and bubble when added. Turn the heat down just a bit and add one schnitzel and let it start to sizzle. Depending on the size of the fry pan add two to three others. Once sizzling check the heat constantly. If they are cooking too quickly and getting dark quickly turn the heat down. If they are not colouring within a few minutes turn the heat up. Turn over once browned one side and brown the other. Drain on paper and start again
- Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately with tabouli and tahini drizzle
Notes
Hints for using quinoa
When you’re deciding how much to cook, keep in mind that 1 cup of quinoa will yield about 3 cups of cooked quinoa.
The ratio is 1 cup of uncooked quinoa to 2 cups of liquid (water or stock).This will take 10 to 15 minutes. When the liquid has been absorbed,
When you’re deciding how much to cook, keep in mind that 1 cup of quinoa will yield about 3 cups of cooked quinoa.
The ratio is 1 cup of uncooked quinoa to 2 cups of liquid (water or stock). This will take 10 to 15 minutes. When the liquid has been mostly absorbed,
These schnitzels can also be shallow fried