My children love french fries, what kid doesn’t? Okay, and I confess so do the adults around our house. I prefer to make mine at home so I can make sure they are not deep fried in unhealthy oils and loaded with sodium.
I have been dreaming about making these eggplant fries for a couple of weeks now. I have had zucchini fries at restaurants in the past and considered making that – I will definitely be trying those out since these came out perfect. If you have had zucchini fries at a restaurant you know that they are deep fried and definitely not healthy. I hate to think all the nutritional benefits of vegetables are just destroyed by deep-frying and dumping huge amounts of salt on them. I personally don’t think that even tastes good anymore. I want to taste my food and not salt, butter, or oil – how about you?
I love eggplant because it is downright delicious and it’s such a versatile vegetable that can be cooked in so many ways. It is also an important antioxidant vegetable that makes a wonderful addition to your diet. It is loaded with vitamin A, B, C folate and minerals like potassium. It is rich in dietary fiber, contains no fat and is low in calories. How perfect, right?
I did a quick search for eggplant fries to see what delicious recipes were out there. Most were deep fried like I thought they would be, but I did find a great one at Dianne’s Dishes. I used her method for cutting the fries because I definitely needed a visual on that – check it out. Thank you Dianne for this and for my recipe inspiration.
- For fries:
- 1 eggplant, cut into strips
- ⅓ cup unsweetened plain soy yogurt
- 1 tbsp. dried parsley
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- ¼ tsp. paprika
- ¼ tsp. ground cumin
- ¼ tsp. onion powder
- 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups whole-wheat seasoned breadcrumbs
- For dip:
- 1 cup unsweetened plain soy yogurt
- 1 tsp. dill
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- Fresh black pepper to taste
- For fries:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with a non-stick baking mat or parchment paper. Cut the top and bottom off of your eggplant. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and then into quarters. Next, cut the eggplant quarters into slices roughly ¼ in. thick. Now cut the eggplant slices into strips roughly the size of French fries. Combine yogurt, parsley, garlic powder, paprika, ground cumin, onion powder, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl. Toss eggplant fries in soy yogurt mixture, coating evenly. Place breadcrumbs on a plate and lightly coat eggplant fries with breadcrumbs. Spread out evenly on trays making sure they don’t touch. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Turn halfway during baking to brown evenly. Serve immediately with lemon dill dipping sauce.
- For dip:
- Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour to chill and allow flavors to combine.
Here’s a great review of Baked Eggplant Fries done by Healthy Girl’s Kitchen check it out!
Have you tries Baked Eggplant Fries before, what do you think?