Spicy Eggplant Rolls

So I've been wanting to try out this recipe for about a week now, but with all the holiday goings on, I just haven't really had time. Well, with a bit of the chaos out of the way, I was finally able to give this a go. (The fact that I was dragging my feet on taking down the tree and clearing the present-opening mess out of the living room might have had a bit to do with it too.)

I'm still calling these "eggplant rolls" even though, as you'll see in a minute, the damned things didn't really "roll" as I had envisioned. So I lose a few points on artfulness.

Anyway, here we go...


Spicy Eggplant Rolls

1 large eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1/3" strips and salted on both sides, like so:


3/4 cup Veggie Shreds mozzarella cheese
1/2 medium onion, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips
1/2 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves, stems trimmed
4 tbsp olive oil (not pictured... solely the fault of the Veggie Guy)
Cayenne pepper (also not pictured... not sure who to blame this one on)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a kitchen towel, press moisture out of salted eggplant slices. (This removes the bitterness that can ruin the whole shebang).

Fry eggplant slices in olive oil, sprinkling each side with cayenne pepper. 1 - 2 minutes per side is sufficient. You want them soft, not charred.

Place eggplant slices in a large baking dish. Fill half of eggplant slices with spinach leaves, red pepper slices, onion slices, and mozzarella "cheese". Fold in half, and cover with a bit more "cheese".

(Note: I use Veggie Shreds because it more or less melts like real cheese, especially in covered dishes.)

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.

The finished eggplant rolls pictured above are served with blackened garlic asparagus, which I'll cover in a later post.

The verdict? My wife thought they were quite tasty, and even commented that I should have done a video demonstration instead of just posting pictures. Yeah, that was my original plan, but sometimes these things just don't work out.

I thought they were very good too, although I have to admit I'm miffed about the whole "roll" concept not panning out. I was envisioning something that looked like a sushi roll, only with eggplant.

Softening the eggplant slices requires a bit more oil than I'm used to, but it's still far healthier than, say, eggplant parmesan (or most anything that omnis eat, for that matter).

And, I'm proud to say that this meets the coveted "30 minutes or less" criterion, so you can get this on the table without screwing around in the kitchen all night.

Well, that's about it for the moment... I'm told it's time to but together the 3-story Barbie Dream House I've been putting off. Better go dust off the Dictionary of Colorful Expletives...

Tarragon Stuffed Eggplant

My wife has been bugging me to make stuffed eggplant for a while now... it was a staple of our menu a couple of years ago, but for some reason, I had forgotten about it.

I've made a few changes from the old version... I used to use soy sauce (probably out of a lack of imagination more than anything else), but for this version, I substituted tarragon vinegar and added fresh chopped sage.

The old version also involved stir-frying the filling before stuffing and baking the eggplants. I dunno - maybe I was afraid of getting Mad Mushroom Disease. Anyway, I skipped this step, and it greatly improved the dish.

Enough blathering...


Tarragon Stuffed Eggplant

1 large eggplant (aubergine), cut in half lengthwise
2 baby portabella or 2 large white button mushrooms, chopped
1/3 cup orange bell pepper, chopped
1 large roma tomato, chopped
2 tbsp fresh chopped sage
1/3 cup tarragon vinegar
2 oz vegan mozzarella"cheese"
1/2 tsp dried parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Scoop out flesh from eggplant halves, chop coarsely and place in a large bowl. Mix mushrooms, orange bell pepper, tomatoes, and sage with the chopped eggplant. Add tarragon vinegar and mix well.

Stuff eggplant shells with vegetable and mushroom mixture. Place stuffed eggplant sells on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle dried parsley over top and serve.
Sprinkle vegan "cheese" on top and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Low Fat Eggplant Parmagian

Eggplant parmagian is one of my favorite dishes, but it's typically loaded with fat. I've spent the last couple of months working on a low fat eggplant parmagian, and I've finally come up with a version that is both tasty and healthy.

Like most of my successful creations, this dish came not from careful planning. Instead, it came from a lack of the correct ingredients. I'm really bad about "winging it" when I'm missing an item or two, and sometimes it works out great. (Sometimes it's a complete freakin' disaster, too, but that's beside the point.)

This version has just 275 calories and 8.5 grams of fat per serving... compare this to Olive Garden's lunch portion of eggplant parmagian, which weighs in at 793 calories and 39 grams of fat.

Add to that the fact that the low fat version is just as tasty (actually a lot better, I think), and I'm a very happy Veggie Guy.

I leave the skin on the eggplant. It gives the slices a slightly smoky flavor when they are baked directly on the oven rack. Feel free to remove the skin if you find this weird.

Oh yeah.. and if you haven't noticed, I use cayenne pepper in pretty much everything. You can omit this, but I think it gives it a distinctive Veggie Guy flair. (Don't worry, my wife thinks I'm delusional too.)

So here we go:

Low Fat Eggplant Parmagian

1 eggplant, sliced into 1/4" thick rounds (you don't have to take the skin off)
1/2 cup Veggie Shreds mozzarella style cheese
1 tsp vegan parmagian cheese, grated
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup marinara sauce or pizza sauce
1/4 tbsp dried sage
1/4 tbsp dried basil leaves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, ground
3 oz lemon juice
A few sprays of olive oil cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Place eggplant slices directly on the middle oven rack, bake for 6 minutes. Turn slices over, bake directly on rack for an additional 6 minutes.

Mix bread crumbs, parmagian cheese, sage, basil, and cayenne pepper in a flat bottomed dish (I use one of those entree-sized plastic storage containers).

Spray cooking spray on a 13 x 9 baking dish.

Coat eggplant slices with lemon juice. Dip in bread crumb mixture, covering both sides.

Place breaded eggplant slices in baking dish in a single layer. Pour marinara or pizza sauce over the slices and then sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 7 - 10 minutes or until cheese starts to bubble and brown.

I typically serve this with steamed asparagus and warm sourdough bread.

Note: This recipe fails my "30 minutes or less" test, but not by much. Most of it is baking time, though, so you can probably still get something else done while you're waiting.

Enjoy!

Lee, The Veggie Guy

Easy Eggplant Stirfry

I had some of the vegan hot and sour soup frozen from last week, and it was freezing when I came home tonight, so I decided to thaw out the soup for tonight's dinner. But, lazy bastid that I am, I hadn't been to the grocery yet. So what to make with the hot and sour soup?

As I was wandering through the grocery, a fat purple eggplant sang its evil siren song to me from the produce section. "Come to me, young(ish) lad. Marvel at my smooth skin. You know you want me..."

Now, eggplant and I have had a rocky sort of relationship. Occasionally, it is kind; mostly, it is a dastardly substance that defies all laws of cooking. It has defied me on more occasions than I care to recall, and I resisted its sultry call.

Then, I gave in.

Eggplant, thou art a cold master.

Ahem.

Anyway, since the eggplant had already claimed me as its bitch, I figured it was a good time to try out a stir fry with the wily stuff.

I'm happy to say that it turned out wonderfully... probably about as authentically Chinese as Taco Bell is authentically Mexican, but still excellent stuff.

So if you are ready to tango with the eggplant, I invite you to try my eggplant stirfry recipe. May the gods of nightshades smile as kindly upon you as they have smiled upon me this icy evening.

1 large eggplant
1 tsp olive oil or hot chili oil
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced (I used the white ones, because shiitakes were just too danged expensive today)
1 6 oz can sliced bamboo shoots
1 bunch scallions
tamari or soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 bottle Iron Chef Sesame Garlic Sauce
1 cup white rice

Prepare white rice in a rice cooker or medium pot (if you don't have a rice cooker, my sympathies. I ruined many a rice based dish before I got my hands on one of these).
Slice eggplant in about 1" x 1/2" wedges. I cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, then cut each half crossways in 1 inch sections (so I had about 10 half-moon shaped pieces an inch thick). I then cut each half moon into about four wedge shaped pieces. Heck, cut it however you want.

Place the eggplant pieces in a large skillet with the oil, and sprinkle liberally with tamari or soy sauce (tamari is better, but significantly more expensive). Let fry for about 6 minutes on medium heat.

Chop white parts of scallions, add with ginger and garlic to eggplant. Chop green parts of scallions and set aside. Let cook for about another 2 minutes, and then add sliced mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

After another 5 minutes, turn down the heat to low, and add the Iron Chef Sesame Garlic Sauce and the chopped green scallions. Simmer on low for 2 minutes, then serve over cooked rice.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes