Second Helping Eggplant Chips with Spicy Aioli

Last week, Z and I made an easy dinner of roasted vegetables with toasted naan. I had a ginormous zucchini from a friend's farm that I needed to use up, so we chopped and roasted that along with half of a large eggplant and some green pepper. We added some curry, cayenne, parsley, salt and pepper to the vegetables, slathered them with olive oil, and let them roast away. Simple, delicious, and extra spicy.

The only issue was that I was left with half of an eggplant - that was rapidly going bad. The next evening, I vowed to use up the remaining eggplant, and made a variation of several eggplant fries recipes I came across. In the end, I came out with eggplant chips - with some very untraditional aioli for dipping.

Eggplant Chips with Spicy Aioli 
Serves: 4 (about 5 chips each)

Eggplant Chips:
-1/2 of a large eggplant (or 1 small eggplant)
-1 cup milk
-3/4 cup whole wheat flour
-Chili powder
-Salt and black pepper, to taste
-Olive oil

Directions: Cut eggplant into 1/2-inch thick, "half moon" slices (if using a whole, small eggplant, cut eggplant lengthwise, then slice into "half moons"). Pour milk into a shallow dish; mix whole wheat flour, chili powder, salt and pepper in a separate shallow dish. Dip each slice of eggplant into the milk, and then coat each side of eggplant in flour mixture. In a saucepan, pour 1-inch thick layer of olive oil; heat to medium/high temperature. Once hot, add eggplant slices (be sure not to overcrowd the pan). Let eggplant slices brown on each side (about 2 to 3 minutes on each side), and then drain on paper towel-covered plate. Sprinkle with some additional salt as soon as the eggplant slice comes off the pan.

Spicy Aioli:
-2 tbsp. mayonnaise
-Squirt of lime juice (use lemon if you have it)
-1-2 generous shakes of Tabasco sauce
-Salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions: Mix above ingredients together in a small bowl, and let sit, covered, in refrigerator until serving time.

These eggplant chips were seriously addicting. Perfectly crunchy on the outside, and the intense seasonings on the chips worked beautifully with the cool, creamy aioli sauce. Next time, though, I will be sure to use less salt on the chips (I went a little crazy), and I will definitely use lemon juice in the aioli - all I had was lime juice at the time.

How have you made use of leftover produce lately?

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