To all our hopeful gardeners out there – IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT.
Sometimes, a tomato just wants to stay green. And that’s okay.
But that’s no reason to turn them away from your kitchen table! Fried green tomatoes are a delicious side to any meal, particularly when paired with a spicy, healthy cream dip, which cuts the salty-acidity of the tomatoes and heats it up with delicious spiciness.
Totally Pointless Trivia:
The movie Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) with Cathy Bates, Jessica Tandy and Mary Stuart Masterson is one of this writer's all-time favourite movies, and inspired this particular dish.
This dish is one of those "just like mama used to make" dishes. Comforting, warm, vegetarian without being unattainable and can be easily transformed into a vegan-friendly dish.
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Makes 2 Servings
Time: 30 minutes
Calories per serving: (Regular version) 355 / (GF version) 265
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
A sharp knife
A cutting board
A well oiled medium-large frying pan or skillet
2 small plates
1 bowl
INGREDIENTS
2 large green tomatoes (or 3-4 small green tomatoes), sliced ¼ inch thick
1 egg
¼ milk (non-dairy okay too!)
1 tsp of lemon
½ cup flour (for GF, we recommend either chickpea flour or corn flour as these fry well, but nearly any type will work)
¼ cup corn flour
¼ cup bread crumbs or panko (for GF, we recommend 2 tablespoons of almond flour and 2 tablespoons of coconut flour)
½ tablespoon of garlic powder (not garlic salt!)
½ teaspoon of cayenne
Dash of salt & pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS
- Slice up your tomatoes on your cutting board, about ¼ inch thick – don’t forget to add the scraps to your FoodCycler Bucket to make this a real zero-waste recipe!
- Heat your oiled frying pan at just under medium heat (ensuring you have a solid base of oil to avoid burning – about ¼ inch thick – ½ inch thick)
- In your bowl, crack egg and mix together your milk and lemon juice
- Put flour onto small plate
- On the other plate, gently mix together your corn flour, breadcrumbs (or breadcrumb substitute), garlic powder and cayenne
- Coat your tomato slices in flour (both sides!)
- Dip your tomato slices into the egg-milk mixture and finish off each one in the breadcrumb mixture so that they’re quite full of crumbs on both sides, and you can no longer see any of the tomato’s surface through them
- Add your tomatoes to your frying pan or skillet, in batches of 4-5, ensuring that the sides of your tomatoes do not touch in the pan
- Flip after approximately 1 minute, or when the tomato half is browned to your liking
- Cook the remaining side for another minute or so
- Collect your cooked Fried Green Tomatoes on a plate lined with paper towel to drain excess grease
- Plate and serve with a creamy dipping sauce and some hot peppers for a tasty kick!
This side dish pairs beautifully with any protein main, particularly pork chops!
For reference: this picture features the gluten free option.