turnip, shallot + chive waffles topped with eggplant + salsa verde

I have never been a breakfast for dinner kind of person. When I was a kid and they used to serve breakfast for lunch at school, I would be really disappointed, and I am still to this day a bit uptight and overprotective about my meals.

Breakfast is breakfast, and it should consists only of breakfast-type foods.  Lunch is lunch-type foods (salad, soup), and dinner is my most sacred meal.  Oh, and one other rule, you will never ever find me consuming a sandwiches or sweet main dishes after 2:00pm.  Ever. It's totally weird, and uptight, I know, but I don't see anything wrong with these rules, and it will be pretty hard to get me to bend them. Although ….. these waffles might be a start.  

I think one of the reasons I do not like breakfast for dinner is because I don't really have a sweet tooth, so the thought of eating a breakfast-type food that is on the sweeter side, such as sweet stack of pancakes or waffles, for dinner (the sacred meal) is a huge turnoff.  However, if you offer me a savory breakfast option for dinner ….. then, mayyybe then, we can talk.  Especially if they are in the form of a waffle. 

These savory waffles might be the first breakfast-type food that I have had for dinner in a long time, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The parsnip gives these waffles a savory, earthy, zing, that is a bit unexpected. The eggplant and the salsa turn this dish into more of a meal, that could totally cross the lines between breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner.  There are veryyyyyy few dishes that can cross all three lines according to the rules in my book, but these waffles are certainly one of them. 
 

turnip, shallot + chive waffles topped with eggplant + salsa verde

MAKES about 6 waffles

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons of olive oil 
3 turnips, diced
2 shallots, sliced
1 clove of garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon of salt
pepper

3/4 cup of water

1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups of oat flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/3 cup of chives or green onions, diced

1 medium sized eggplant, sliced into thin rounds
a drizzle of olive oil
salt + pepper

for the salsa verde:
3-4 tomatilllos, diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1/2 of a small red onion, minced
a handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
salt + pepper

METHOD

Make the salsa

• Once all of your ingredients are chopped, place them in one big pile on the cutting board and give them a good chop while the are all mixed together. Then, place the salsa in a small bowl, season with salt and pepper, and refrigerate until you're ready to serve. 

Sauté the parsnip, shallots, and garlic and make the parsnip puree

• In a cast iron, heat up 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat and add the shallots and cook for 1-2 minutes until they are soft. Then add the garlic, and give it a stir, and then add the turnips, salt and pepper. Sauté the parsnips until they are soft, about 5-7 minutes. 
• Transfer the parsnips sauté to a blender or food processor, add the water, and blend on high until you have a smooth puree. Tranfer the mixture to a bowl, and place the bowl in the fridge for about 10 minutes to allow it to cool (especially before adding the egg, because if it is too hot it will cook the egg). 

While the mixture is cooling, you can cook the eggplant

• Pre-heat the oven to 200º. 
• Drizzle the olive oil (lightly) over the eggplant slices and season with salt and pepper. Then, in the same cast iron, heat it over medium heat and add the eggplant, cooking for about 3 minutes on each side. Cook about 3-4 slices at a time, depending on the size of your pan, until all of the eggplant is cooked. Transfer the cooked slices to a baking sheet and place them in the oven to keep warm while you finish preparing the waffles. 

Make the waffle batter, and cook the waffles

• Remove the turnip puree from the fridge, and stir in the beaten egg and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Make a well in the center, and add in the flour and baking powder. Stir until everything is combined. Lastly, fold in the chives. 
• Heat the waffle maker to a medium-high setting. On my waffle maker, this was a 4.5. I find with this waffle batter, you want to ere on the side of crisper waffles so you want a higher heat setting. Consult your specific waffle maker manual  if you need more direction on this. 
• Cook the waffle accordingly to your special waffle makers instructions. You know that the waffle is done because it won't stick when you open the waffle maker (so do this slowly to test it), and it should be fairly brown on top. Carefully remove the waffle, and place on a baking sheet, and then into the oven (that was pre-heated for the eggplant) if you want to keep them warm. Do not stack the waffles, and do not place them until foil, because they will become soggy. 

Assemble the waffles

• When you've cooked up all of the batter, assemble the waffles. Place a single waffle on a plate. Add 1-2 slices of the eggplant, and finish with a large spoonful of the salsa verde. I also like to finish with a drizzle of really good olive oil and some fresh cracked pepper. 
• If you want to save the waffles for later, they keep really well wrapped up in the freezer. Cover them in parchment, then in foil, and the place in a freezer bag. To heat up, you can heat them in the oven at 350º, or toast them on a cast iron.