Eggplant Sandwiches and Balsamic Glazed Asparagus

My boyfriend and I went out for dinner one night at The Blind Tiger in Topeka, Kansas. We both got the most delicious eggplant sandwiches we'e ever had. A couple weeks later we were craving the eggplant sandwiches. Instead of going out we decided to try out our own recipe.To go along side the eggplant sandwiches we thought balsamic glazed asparagus would pair nicely. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the different steps like I usually do...my bad everyone! I'll try to explain the steps as clearly as possible. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 eggplant 
• 1 onion 
• 1 tomato 
• 1 egg 
• 1 bundle of asparagus 
• balsamic vinegar 
• lettuce 
• Any type of buns (we got sesame seed buns) 
• Panko bread crumbs 
• Parmesan cheese 
• mozzarella cheese 
• Mayo (we got a spicy chipolte favor)  

Balsamic Glazed Asparagus 

These are super simple to make and packed full of flavor! You'll want to start out by cutting the ends off the asparagus (about 2 inches) that part has a woody texture that we don't want. Next grab a baking dish and pour 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 2 table spoons of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss the  fresh asparagus in the mixture. Bake for 20 mins at 375 degrees. Take out of the oven and sprinkle the balsamic glazed asparagus with Parmesan cheese. 

Eggplant sandwiches

Alright, these sandwiches are also super simple to make you just have to make sure you have an assembly line set up. First off you'll just want to slice up the eggplant, tomato and onion. You should slice the eggplant about a 1/2 of an inch thick. Next you will want to have 2 dishes. One dish with 1 cup of panko bread crumbs and the other dish with 1 egg whisked with just a splash of water. Next, you will want  to have a large skillet, set heat to medium and coat the bottom with olive oil.  Now its time to dip eggplant into the egg wash; making sure to coat both sides. Then dip it into the panko bread crumbs and put it in the skillet. The cooking process will go by pretty fast since its a veggie its not going to take that long to cook, about 2 minutes per side. Right when you take out the golden fried eggplant. top it with mozzarella cheese. Repeat this process for the rest of the slices of eggplant. Now its time to assemble the sandwiches. Spread both sides of the toasted sesame seed bun with the mayo, then one slice of eggplant, tomato, onion and lettuce. This simple recipe is another go to meal if you want something quick and full of flavor! I hope you like them as much as I did!