What to do with Ugly Garden Tomatoes

You know the tomatoes I mean. The ones that you just picked off the plants you had such high hopes for in the spring. Then squirrels ate the red ones, the caterpillars munched through the pretty round green ones, and all you have left is those sad looking, spotty half red tomatoes. Plus, you have the last teeny tiny eggplants of the season. I'm so sick of grilling but we need to eat.

"I can't put these in a salad! They are hideous."
"Ah, but they are probably totally delicious."
"Hmm...that's true, and I hate to waste food."

Only solution: cook them up in something delicious and warm and celebrate the cool weather. Let's cook! Let's eat!

Ugly Garden Vegetable Lasgana (Wheat Free)

Ingredients:
6-8 Ugly Tomatoes (Sliced in rounds, 1 cm thick, remove seeds)
4-6 Ugly Eggplants (Peeled and sliced lengthwise 1 cm thick)
1-2 C Pasta Sauce or Canned Tomatoes
8 oz shredded mozerella cheese
2 eggs (lightly beaten, seasoned with pinch of salt)
1+ C any wheat free flour (millet, rice, corn)
2-4 TBS frying oil (grapeseed is an excellent choice)
Optional: 1/2 C assorted chopped herbs -whatever you have (oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram etc.)
Optional: 1/4 C shredded parmesan
Optional: 8-10 Lasagna Noodles (cooked) wheat-free or otherwise

1 Cast Iron Skillet
1 12" by 8" Baking Dish

Warm cast iron skillet over med/high heat with 2 tbs oil. Toss eggplant lightly in eggs then dip in flour. Fry eggplant in batches in skillet until brown (4 min on each side). When they are easily punctured with a fork they are done. Set eggplant on a paper towel/plate to drain excess oil then lay the eggplant in the baking dish, filling a single layer. Next add a layer of sliced tomatoes and 1/2 your tomato sauce. (If you are adding lasagna noodles, add here.) Sprinkle with assorted herbs. Cover with 1/2 your shredded cheese. Repeat. Top with Parmesan cheese if you like. May be refrigerated as long as 24 hours before baking. Bake at 400F for 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Enjoy!