Eggplant dish (Mancare de vinete)

This is another childhood favorite.  It's a bit time consuming, but well worth it.  There is little seasoning because the vegetables are so flavorful that they don't need much of anything.  Enjoy!

 Ingredients:
-2-3 medium eggplants
-1 large onion, peeled and diced
-1 carrot, peeled and grated
-1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
-2-3 ripe, juicy tomatoes, chopped
-1 lb pork loin
-salt and pepper
Directions:
Wash the eggplants and peel like in the picture.

 Slice them and put them in a large bowl.  As you place them in a bowl, heavily salt each row.

Cover the bowl and let sit for at least an hour.  This will ensure that the natural bitterness of the eggplant "sweats" out and also that the eggplant will get nice and tender.

When done, rinse off the salt as much as you can with cold water.  Drain the eggplant slices very well.  Deep fry in batches until golden brown.  Set on paper towels to drain.  Eggplant retains a lot of oil, so make sure that you drain them as much as possible.

 Meanwhile, saute the onion, pepper, carrots and tomatoes (with all the juice they render) in a Tbs of olive oil until veggies are nice and tender.  Season with a little salt and pepper.  Also, cut the pork into bite size pieces and lightly season with salt and pepper.  Fry until nice and golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.
Place fried eggplant slices on bottom of casserole dish (it's ok if you have 2 rows of them).  Top with sauteed veggies and pork. Bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!