Thursday, June 14, 2012

(Vegan) Fried Green Tomatoes

The first time I ever made Fried Green Tomatoes was years ago after watching the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes".  I had seen the movie several times and each time I ended up with a  serious craving for this dish.  So one afternoon I found green tomatoes at a farm stand, and my husband and I tried our hand at them.  They turned out really good!  For some reason we haven't made them in years so when I saw some green tomatoes at the store the other day, I had to get some and make this dish for my girls.

Since I can't have dairy anymore, I had to adapt the recipe a bit. I am also running low on eggs since I've been  baking a lot this week, so I didn't use those either.  That makes this a totally vegan recipe!  I didn't really follow a recipe for these, I just used a few methods I've used for breading other foods.  They turned out so good and definitely took care of that craving. 

(Vegan) Fried Green Tomatoes 
Serves 4 as a side or appetizer
Ingredients:
  • 2 green tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup corn meal
  • 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • smoked paprika
  • garlic powder
  • Canola oil ( for frying)

Directions:

1.Slice your tomatoes into medium size slices- if they are too thin they will fall apart, too thick and they won't cook right.
                              

2. Put your breading mixture together: the breadcrumbs, corn meal, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  All of these are to taste. I added roughly a teaspoon of the smoked paprika and garlic.  You could add more or less.

I used my hands to mix up the breadcrumbs. 
 3.Whisk together your 1/2 cup almond milk and 1 tablespoon olive oil.  I much prefer this to using egg as a coating for frying veggies.  It's cleaner, not sticky at all, and the breadcrumbs stick better and stay on during cooking.  Plus, you don't have to worry about dealing with raw egg and cross contamination.


 4 Add enough oil to the pan to a cast iron or heavy bottomed skillet for it to come about halfway up the slices of the tomatoes. Heat the oil over medium heat, but don't let it boil.

5 .Dip your tomato slices in the liquid mixture, and then coat with the breadcrumbs. 


6. Add your coated tomatoes to the hot oil- you'll know the oil is hot enough when it bubbles as you are adding the tomatoes.  Be careful- hot oil spatters!

7. Cook on one side until gold brown.  Flip and continue to cook until the other side is browned.  Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.  

Keep an eye on your oil and make sure it doesn't start to get too hot, otherwise it will burn the tomatoes.  Add more oil if needed.

We had these with my Italian Chicken.  You can dip them in tomato or spaghetti sauce, or just sprinkle with salt and pepper and eat plain.  I don't like to add too much to them, I want to taste the tomato and the coating, not the garnish.


My girls really liked them!  The love all veggies, but especially if the have been fried!  Next time we make these I may add more spice to the bread crumbs since we loved spicy food. 

*Special thanks to my husband for taking all the pictures for this post!

3 comments:

  1. I'll have to make these for Rose. She loves tomatoes and I just happen to have some Panko crumbs left over from the fish I made last night.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Enjoyed your post. I had these earlier this week and were delish. It's really easy to grow tomoatoes; even if you don't have access to garden space--they will grow in pots as well. I used a ready made mix for frying fish or chicken and it worked out well too. Thanks for the post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!! We are growing a small pot of patio tomatoes this year. We have a very shady yard so the past couple years of gardening have been trial and error. We did build a cold frame this year with lettuce, broccoli, kale, and cabbage. It's been a huge success! Our tomatoes are producing too, same with my jalapeno plant. We do grow a ton of herbs- they love my slightly shaded patio! Next year we will expand and I hope to grow even more.

      Delete