I have discovered a culinary secret, one that I’ll share with those who struggle to get family members to eat their vegetables. The secret is camouflage.
Case in point: Tonight we ate at a restaurant named Fried Green Tomatoes. I’m not sure why it’s named that, although I am familiar with the appetizer by the same name and the movie of several years back, also by the same name. But a restaurant . . .
Well, it did have fried green tomatoes as its signature appetizer, so we ordered a serving to share. At first glance, one might think you took unripe tomatoes and fried them. But this is where the camouflage comes in. The plate arrived at our table steaming hot and looked more like a pizza than a serving of tomatoes. I grabbed our menu to make sure we’d gotten the right thing.
The green tomatoes, it turns out, are the most insignificant ingredient in the dish. According to the description in the menu, the tomatoes are lightly breaded before they are fried. This assures that all health benefits are removed. Then the tomatoes are laid in a heavy pool of tomato sauce and covered with a pound of cheese. Next the entire dish is broiled so the edges of the cheese turn brown and crispy. It is sort of like a pizza after all.
Italians have done the same thing with eggplant for years; and — after watching Earl devour the tomatoes — I think maybe bread crumbs, olive oil, tomato sauce, and cheese can make my efforts to widen his vegetable interests more successful.
How does fried green broccoli pancakes sound? Or fried green asparagus tips? Or fried green Brussel sprouts?
I must stock up on cheese.
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