What do you do when you get some beautiful eggplant from your first CSA pickup at your local organic farm? You do what I did – I made my favorite baked eggplant no-parm recipe! Did you know that eggplant parmesan has been my favorite food to eat pretty much my whole entire life? During each of my two pregnancies, it was my ultimate craving. I would dream about it at night and want it constantly! It’s still one of my favorite foods to eat and here is a healthier version I’ve created for you. It’s baked, not fried and I didn’t even add vegan cheese to it. I would have made a home-made cashew cheese for this, but I was out of cashews, so I just left it out. Guess what? The no-cheese factor was not even missed. I just baked the eggplant with store-bought low-sodium organic tomato sauce because I was out of home-made and didn’t have time to make any. Hey, and that makes it a lot easier for you too because we are all pressed for time in the kitchen with our busy lifestyles! For the kids and the hubby, I served it with some quinoa pasta and a side salad. I enjoyed mine over a bed of spring mix with fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Okay and I had a bite of the pasta, couldn’t resist. 😉 This recipe is fantastic either way folks! I hope you enjoy this recipe, we do.
Here’s a peek at all the wonderful produce, herbs and flowers we got from our CSA pickup last week.
My son can pretty much devour all that edamame himself, he loves it so much. I’m still trying to figure out what do with the okra, got any suggestions? I would love to pickle it, but I’ve never pickled anything before! Our next pickup is tomorrow and I can’t wait to see what we get and obviously my next blog post will be based around this. You can’t beat fresh, local and organic – I’m in heaven!
- 2 medium eggplants, sliced into ½-inch rounds
- 4 flax eggs
- 1 cup whole-wheat italian style breadcrumbs (I use the whole foods brand)
- 4 cups low-sodium store-bought tomato sauce
- Freshly ground black pepper.
- Fresh basil
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick baking mat. In a bowl combine 4 tbsp flax seed meal with 12 tbsp warm water and stir. Set aside to thicken.
- Fill a large sauté pan halfway with water and bring to a boil. Add eggplant slices and blanch for 4 minutes, turning once. Drain on a paper towel and allow to cool slightly.
- Dip eggplant slices in flax egg mixture, then dredge in breadcrumbs, season with some fresh black pepper. Place eggplant on baking sheets and bake until golden brown on bottom, 20-25 minutes. Turn slices and continue to bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.
- Remove eggplant from oven. Raise oven heat to 400 degrees F. Spread some sauce to cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Spread some sauce on the eggplant slices and repeat with remaining ingredients.
- Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve with fresh basil on top.
What’s your favorite way to cook eggplant?
Have a fabulous day all!
xoxo,
Jen =)
0
0
0
0
0
My coworker just gave me some eggplant from her garden today and now I know exactly what to do with it! YUM!
this is definitely an easy and delicious recipe Nikki =)
Eggplant is definitely one of my favorites! This post got me drooling and made me hungry! I’m going to have to pick up an eggplant from the farmers market and make this sometime very soon! Thank you for sharing another one of your fabulous creations!
Thanks Jennie 🙂 this is an easy baked eggplant recipe that is healthy with no oil and no mess! Let me know how you like it
xoxo
Jen
Makes me wish I liked eggplant! The only way I like it is in babaganoush. Have you veganized that recipe yet? YUM!
Nice CSA haul! Looking forward to seeing your next CSA batch! 🙂
That’s vegan already! If I get more eggplant I’ll make it for you 😉
yum!! i love breaded eggplant — looks delicious!
Thanks Caralyn, I’m actually eating it right now, reheats great! 😉
That looks delicious, and the sauce / basil colors are vivid! You’ve been influenced by SFO!!
Maybe I have thx bro 🙂 love you
Roast the okra in the oven. One of my favorite things EVAH!
That sounds great and easy Miranda! I’ll try it 🙂
Sooooo good! I made this for dinner tonight for my mom and me. My mom usually hates eggplant and was initially hesitant to try this dish, but after the first bite she pronounced it “excellent!” Quite a compliment for a person with her aversion to eggplant! Unfortunately, my local Whole Foods doesn’t carry whole wheat Italian style bread crumbs, so I bought the regular whole wheat bread crumbs and added some organic Italian seasoning to the crumbs before dipping in the eggplant slices. Worked great! Thanks again for another fabulous recipe!
Hi Jennifer!
This is one of the best comments I’ve ever received…thank you for taking the time out to write this…so glad you liked the recipe and so did your mom whole doesn’t even like eggplant. You know a recipe is a good one when that happens…thanks again!
xoxo
Jen
Looks so vibrant and whole without the crust and cheese, you did a great job on it!
Thanks Jackie =) I have more eggplant fromour CSA and Ill be making another version with tofu ricotta and vegan cheese! feeling naughty 😉 lol