How to make golden aubergine fritters and plum tomato sauce

The crispy aubergine makes a great partner to sweet pepper sauce made with slow-cooked plum tomatoes. Aubergines have a number of medicinal properties, including balancing blood sugar levels, boosting gut health and removing harmful chemical substances from the body

(Mindful Chef)

Golden aubergine fritters and plum tomato sauce

Serves 2

1 aubergine
1 lemon
1 red pepper
220g baby plum vine tomatoes
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp dried garlic
2 tsp dried parsley
40g spinach
4 tsp cornflour
6 tbsp ground almonds
80g quinoa
Large handful of flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6 and boil a kettle. Finely dice the red pepper and vine tomatoes. Place in a saucepan with 100ml boiling water and a quarter of the juice from the lemon. Season and simmer on a gentle heat for 20 mins, stirring occasionally. Add more boiling water if needed.

Roughly chop the fresh parsley. Rinse the quinoa and place in a separate saucepan with a pinch of sea salt and 300ml boiling water. Simmer for 15 mins, then drain and stir through the chopped fresh parsley and keep warm.

Meanwhile, thinly slice the aubergine (½cm thick) into rounds. Place on a baking tray, drizzle with ½ tablespoon of oil and put in the oven for 5 minutes.

In one bowl, mix the cornflour with 50ml of cold water to form a smooth liquid. In another bowl, mix the ground almonds with the dried garlic and dried parsley and season with sea salt and black pepper. Coat each softened aubergine slice in the cornflour, then in the ground almond mix.

Heat a large frying pan on a medium heat with 1½ tablespoons of oil and cook the aubergine for 2-3 mins each side, until turning golden and crispy (you may need to do this in two batches).

Place the aubergine fritters on two warm plates alongside the baby spinach and spoon over the red pepper sauce. Serve with the quinoa, drizzled with the remaining juice from the lemon.

Recipe from Mindfulchef.com