Eggplant & Potato Casserole

Ingredients

2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

2 potatoes sliced

2 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp coriander

1 tsp garlic salt

1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 bunch of fresh basil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3/4 cup sliced mushrooms

1 eggplant cut in half, then sliced

2 handfuls of spinach

4 garlic cloves

Preheat oven to 350. Place cut eggplant pieces into a large ziploc bag, add 1 tbsp of oil & a pinch of sea salt, seal and shake to coat.  Let marinate for 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle cut potatoes with chili powder & garlic salt, set aside. On medium high heat, cook onions & garlic until translucent, add mushrooms and cook for 2 more minutes. Empty can of tomatoes into a small sauce pan, add onion mixture and cook on low heat. In the pan that the onions were sauteed in, add the cut potatoes and a splash of water. Cook until potatoes are browned- about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and replace with eggplant pieces, (you can the potatoes in your baking pan for now). Cook eggplant until browned- about 5 minutes. In your baking pan, layer eggplant, tomato mixture, potatoes, then basil and spinach finishing with tomato mixture lightly covering top. Sprinkle top with coriander and Bake for 30 minutes.

It’s not the prettiest, but dang it’s good!

Eggplant couscous

I really like eggplant. I never did before I went veg, but now- I LOVE it. There are few recipes for eggplant that actually abide to the whole-food challenge, actually I don’t think we found any… So, we improvised! Woodz mastered this roasted eggplant dish and I give him serious props for doing it so well!

Woodz’ Eggplant Couscous

*drool*

• one eggplant
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Italian herbs (dried parsley, oregano, etc.)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• couscous

How he did it:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F°
2. Cut up eggplant in 1-2 inch pieces (half it lengthwise, then again lengthwise and then chop into inch pieces from there).
3. In a large ziploc bag, or rubber container, mix oil with the herbs and toss in the eggplant pieces. Close bag or container and shake it all about! Woodz filled the bag with air so the pieces could jumble easily.
4. Once the oven is ready, sprawl the eggplant pieces over a non-stick cookie sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes. Keeping an eye on the eggplant so it gets brown & kind of shriveled- but not over cooked and soggy. I’d check it after 20 minutes, then go from there.
5. While the eggplant is baking- prepare your marinara! In a small saucepan heat the tomatoes and herbs on low. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
6. When you get the marinara going, start boiling your water for the couscous. It only cooks for less than 5 minutes so let this be your last step.
7. Once the eggplant is cooked, spread over a bed of couscous and top with a spoonful of marinara sauce.

This meal was AWESOME aaaaand it was super healthy & lowfat too! Good job hubby! When you eat this good, it’s hard to remember that you’re on a ‘restricted’ whole-food vegan diet!

Eggplant Parmesan

Who cooks eggplant on a regular basis? I mean, I never think to cook it. It always taunts me at the grocery store but I always think, “meh. its so finicky.” and leave it be. Well, this week I finally bought one and made a killer dish using this recipe.

I basically just sliced it up into 1/2 inch slices, dipped it in a soy milk/ vegenaise (vegan mayo) concoction and then dredged it in some oregano/Parmesan/bread crumbs. I was really surprised at how well the bread crumbs stuck to the eggplant. Cook for about 12 minutes on each side and they’re ready. I served them with some Trader Joe’s spaghetti sauce on top of spinach fettuccine. The vegenaise somehow amplifies the eggplant and makes it taste so rich and creamy.

I’m totally not intimidated by eggplant anymore and plan on making this dish a lot more. wahoo!