CSA with Friends Dinner... Round Two

Another week and another glorious selection of fresh fruit and veggies from the local CSA, Good Food Collective. This time we went in prepared and a few of us brought a couple of extras ingredients along, such as cheeses, lemon and basil. Pantry ingredients were simple staples – flour, breadcrumbs, oils, balsamic, salt and pepper. We arrived to beautiful purple eggplant, bright green peppers, corn on the cob, onion and cucumber. I also happened to pick up some tomatoes from the Pittsford Farmers Market to add to the mix. Eggplant parm was immediately requested but I attempted a lighter more seasonal version. I hope I succeeded.

Corn, Pepper and Onion Relish

• Shuck the corn from the cob and sauté in fry pan over medium heat with cooking oil; Remove and set aside;
• Repeat with diced green peppers;
• Sauté diced onion over medium low heat seasoned with salt and pepper for 15 minutes until translucent and lightly caramelized. Set aside until ready to plate.

Tomato, Mozzarella and Cucumber "Bruschetta" Topping

• Dice tomatoes and season with salt; set inside colander over sink, bowl or plate allowing for tomato juices to drain;
• Dice cucumber and ball of fresh mozzarella;
• Zest [1] lemon;
• Chiffonade [1/2 cup] fresh basil;
• Toss everything except tomatoes together in bowl until ready to plate.

Eggplant Parmesan "Crostini"

• Set up breading station: [1 1/2 cups] AP flour seasoned with salt and pepper; 2 large eggs whisked; [1 cup] panko bread crumbs combined with [1/2 cup] grated parmesan cheese – each in a shallow bowl;
• Peel and slice eggplant 1-inch diameter on a bias;
• Coat eggplant in flour, dip in egg, and coat in breadcrumb-cheese mixture; repeat with all of the eggplant and set aside until ready to cook
• Over medium heat, adding [2 Tbs] of cooking oil at a time, panfry the eggplant until golden brown on both sides, flipping after about 2 minutes;
• Keep in oven preheated to 250ºF until all are fried and ready to plate.

Layer eggplant on top of corn relish, followed by "bruschetta" topping. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, good quality olive oil, salt and freshly cracked pepper.