You’ll Totally Love These Eggplant Recipes

It’s an eggplant kind of day!!  When I started out cooking this afternoon, I was trying use up some left over Bolognese Sauce.  In effort to eat “veggie most dinners,” I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen. Recently, I have enjoyed Portobello Pizzas and Lasagnes, Cauliflower Rice with Deconstructed Egg Rolls and Roasted Spicy Chic Peas with Garlic Sauce and Avocado. I’m in heaven!!  I don’t know why I haven’t thought to do this sooner?  I love vegetables; but if you don’t, adding lots of extra flavours and textures to your veggies might just get you to increase the amount of fibre on your plate.  Vegetables fill us up, they give us sustainable energy and they help to keep us regular.  I’ve ditched my starchy carbs at dinner and traded them in for some of these delightful treats.  Best news? In two weeks, I’m down 4lbs, it seems we don’t need a heavy carb load in the evening, right before we head to bed; save that for the morning when we require energy for the entire day!

Today started out as a “clean the fridge kind of day” and ended with some very exciting and delicious meals.  I had a big, beautiful eggplant on hand. An eggplant can sit on your counter for a few weeks while you decide how you’d like to use it. They’re loaded with many nutrients and and vitamins, including Vitamin C and K; they contain magnesium, copper, folic acid and lots of dietary fibre.  They absorb flavours from marinades and sauces and blend well into meat or vegetarian dishes.  The trick to cooking eggplant as far as I am concerned, is uniform sized slices.  I’m not one to brag about my knifing skills so a kitchen mandolin is a necessity for me. I can get pretty easily overwhelmed by the texture and flavour of eggplant.  As a result, I tend to use thinly sliced portions for my recipes. Today, I sliced the whole eggplant, only to discover that I did not have enough left over bolognese sauce to accommodate my number of eggplant slices. Enter new recipe...a hybrid, if you will, an old chic pea favourite that I whip up regularly; this time with eggplant instead of chic peas.  It worked out beautifully.

Eggplant with Feta and Tomatoes

Half an Eggplant

2 tbsps of Garlic Olive Oil

1 Tbsp of Red Wine Vinegar

1 Tbsp of Olive Brine

3 Black Olives, finely chopped

1 tsp of dried oregano

1/2 tsp of Incan Fire Salt (Cayenne Pepper, Salt and Cumin)

1 Roma Tomato, sliced

1/3 of a cup of Feta Cheese

Pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice half an Eggplant with a kitchen mandolin. 

Line the bottom of a casserole dish with the Eggplant Slices.

Drizzle the slices of Eggplant with Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar and and Olive Brine. 

Pit and finely chop 3 olives, sprinkle over the Eggplant Slices. 

Season with Pepper and Incan Fire Salt. 

Bake at 350 F for 12 minutes add Sliced Tomatoes, and Feta along with Oregano and bake for an additional 5 minutes. 

Serve with Fresh Parsley or Raw Baby Asparagus (which I found in my garden today) and drizzle with balsamic reduction. 

If you enjoy this recipe, try my favourite Chic Pea Dip, which is a constant staple in my home.  You can find the link here

http://melsbigideas.blogspot.com/search/label/chic%20pea

I did tell you I made two recipes today...here’s the other twist on my Eggplant Slices...

Eggplant Bolognese

1/2 and Eggplant, sliced with a kitchen mandolin

1-1.5 cups of Bolognese Sauce

1 tbsp of Garlic Olive Oil

1 cup of shredded cheese, I used Fontina and Parmesan

Directions:

Slice half an Eggplant with a mandolin. 

Layer the bottom of a small casserole dish with your Eggplant Slices. 

Drizzle with Olive Oil, salt and pepper.

Cover with Bolognese Sauce. 

Add a second layer of Eggplant Slices and cover with Bolognese Sauce. 

Top with your favourite Cheese Blend.  I use Fontina as it is Lactose Free and melts up just beautifully.

Salt and Pepper the top of the casserole. 

Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes. 

Serve with Salad and Enjoy!

Thanks for taking the time to read this article and I wish you luck if you decide on an Eggplant Adventure in your kitchen!  Please feel free to comment below with any questions, concerns or if you just liked this Big Idea!!