This recipe is from A Thyme to Cook, a 3 Star Certified Green Caterer™ located in Connecticut. Most of these ingredients are from their on-site garden!
“Caprese” Ingredients 2 Black Eggplant 2 White Eggplant 2 Heirloom Tomatoes 6 Chives, cut on a bias Orange Scented Pickled Tomatoes (See Recipe Below) Rainbow Swiss Chard & Tomatillo Salsa Verde (See Recipe Below) Allium Scented Black Lava Salt Dust (See Recipe Below) Slice eggplants on a bias. Lightly coat with olive oil and grill for 1-2 minutes per side. Slice heirlooms to ¼” thickness. Alternately shingle white eggplant, tomato and black eggplant in a criss cross pattern. Garnish tomatoes with chives. Lay salsa verde right down the eggplant. Garnish the sides with Orange Scented Pickled Tomatoes. Finish by using the allium salt dust to fill in the voids of the plate and to provide pop of color. Orange Scented Pickled Tomatoes 4 Blue Indigo Tomatoes 4 Yellow Cherry Tomatoes ½ c. Rice Vinegar ½ c. Water 3 T. Sugar 3 T. Salt Zest of 1 Orange 2 t. Pickling Spice (Peppercorns/Bay Leaves/Coriander/Pepper Flakes/Mustard Seeds/Cinnamon) Place water, sugar, salt and pickling spices in a sauce pot. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Remove from heat and add orange zest. Let cool, add your quartered tomatoes and allow to pickle for 3-5 days. Rainbow Chard Tomatillo Salsa Verde 1 bun. Rainbow Swiss Chard, 2 small Tomatillos ¼ Small Red Onion, finely diced 1 ½ T. White Balsamic Vinegar 3 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil Juice of ½ Lemon 6 Basil Leaves, torn Salt and Pepper to Taste Remove the leaves from the chard. Fine dice the stems and rough chop the leaves. Small dice the tomatillos. Add ingredients and onion in a bowl, tossing with olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar. Season to taste. Add basil right before service to avoid discoloration. Allium Scented Black Lava Salt Dust 1 t. Housemade Red Onion Powder (Place thinly sliced red onion in a dehydrator set at 158 degrees for 2-3 days or until fully dried. Powder in a spice grinder.) 1 t. Granulated Garlic ½ c. Black Lava Salt
Place red onion powder, granulated garlic and black lava salt into a spice grinder and grind until fine powder. Use for decorating negative space on your plate as well as extra salinity on top of the Grilled Eggplant “Caprese”.