Baked Eggplant Fries (Paleo)

I’ve been to the beach a lot this summer. This, of course, means I’ve also been on the NJ boardwalk.

And have been assaulted by all the delicious-smelling foods. 

Now, I might not want to eat said food, but I’m not gonna lie, it smells good! 

Case in point: french fries. Boardwalk food or not, I rarely like the taste. Yet, their smell is ever so alluring…

So, I decided to make my own fries that would taste yummy to me. And might I say, they are ever so addicting. 

And delicious-smelling 🙂

Baked Eggplant Fries 

Ingredients:

1 eggplant 

Salt 

1/3 cup coconut flour 

3 eggs

2 tbsp water 

1 cup almonds 

4 tsp garlic powder 

2 tsp basil 

2 tsp oregano 

2 tsp thyme 

1 tsp rosemary 

Salt and pepper 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 and grease baking pans. Cut eggplant into fry-sized pieces, place in a single layer on the baking pans, and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 15 minutes to sweat.

Meanwhile, spread coconut flour in a bowl*. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and water in another small bowl*. Set aside. 

Grind almonds into very fine pieces in a food processor. Transfer to a third bowl* and mix in garlic powder, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Take the eggplant and place in coconut flour until coated. Next, dunk in the egg bowl until wet. Finally, roll in the almond mixture until completely coated. Return to the baking pan and repeat until all eggplant fries are “dressed.”

Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Take out, roll eggplant to its opposite side (I found rolling to be easier than flipping) and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve! 

*When I first made these, I took each individual eggplant fry and transferred it from bowl to bowl. Although this method works very well, it is time consuming. However, taking a handful of fries at a time, placing them into a bowl WITH A LID, and shaking them up until they are covered in coconut flour/egg/almonds speeds up the prep time. 

Advertisement

Carrot Fries

I’ve been loving me some roasted veggies lately. Who knew what a little oil, salt, and pepper could do? So crisp and yummy and simple.

Why didn’t I roast earlier? And the smell it emits… it’s just an added bonus.

So, I tried roasting with baby carrots (yes, I took the lazy way).

Instead of a crisp finish though,I got nice, tender carrots. And normally I don’t like soft carrots. But roasting just makes it tastes so good that, who cares? Actually, the softness reminded me of french fries. Thus, I hereby deem these carrot fries 🙂

Carrot Fries

Ingredients:

1 lb bag of organic baby carrots

1 tbsp olive oil or  coconut oil, melted

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

parsley

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, toss all the ingredients together. Lay out on a baking pan lined with foil and place in the oven for 28 minutes. Quickly stir carrots halfway through. Before serving, sprinkle with parsley.

Baked Asparagus Fries

One more week and then I’m done my semester! Yay! Unfortunately, this also means hardcore studying time.

Eh.

I’m so bad when it comes to procrastination. Instead of going out or stalking people on social media sites, I cook or bake. And then eat. A lot. And this right here is just one of the results from my procrastination. In my defense though, I practiced my sign language between baking times 🙂

Baked Asparagus Fries 

Ingredients:

2 bunches of fresh, organic asparagus

1 large egg

hot sauce

3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking oil. Wash asparagus and break off the tough ends. Beat egg and a couple drops of hot sauce together in a bowl. In a shallow dish, mix together panko breadcrumbs, mozzarella cheese, pepper flakes, oregano, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Using your hands, take one asparagus spear and place it in the egg mixture. Shake off the excess yolk and place in panko bowl. Completely cover with crumbs and place on the baking sheet. Repeat with every asparagus spear. Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Flip after 10 minutes.

Note: If you want a nice, thick coat on your “fries,” coat them in flour after you dunk them in the yolk and before you dip them in the panko mixture. I did not do this because I didn’t have the time (I did eventually have to write a paper, after all) and just wanted a light, crunchy coat.