Grilled Eggplant Rollatini

I've been given several eggplants lately and have been making various dishes using them. I had an Eggplant Rollatini that I used to make that had ham rolled with the mozzarella, after looking at a few blogs I decided on this. You can serve this individually as an appetizer or serve over pasta for a full meal.

I forgot to take a pic of it plated up with some pasta! Duh!

• 1 large eggplant
• kosher salt
• cooking spray* (I have a bottle that I fill with canola oil)
• about 1/3 pound vegan mozzarella cheese, cut into fingers that fit your eggplant
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup grated vegan Parm Cheese

Slice the eggplant thinly, preferrably using a mandoline, to about 1/4″ thickness. Sprinkle both sides of each slice with salt, and place on a baking sheet, layering between paper towels. Set aside for at least an hour.
Preheat a griddle to medium-low heat. Rinse the eggplant slices and pat dry, then spray each with cooking spray. Grill the eggplant slices for a few minutes on each side, until lightly browned.

Set aside. Slice cheese into fingers. Place a finger of cheese onto a slice of eggplant and roll up, starting with the wider end.

Place in a lightly oiled baking dish.

Repeat until remaining cheese and grilled eggplant slices are used up.

To make the sauce, begin by heating the olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper to the saute pan, and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes and salt, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the basil and cheese.

Spread the sauce over the eggplant rollatini.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF, and bake for 10-15 minutes, until heated through. Serve immediately or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I love soup. I mean what's NOT to love, a pot of wonderful, comforting, warming, deliciousness scooped into a bowl and devoured. I saw this recipe on Skinnytaste - it is a crock-pot,  non-vegan awesome looking recipe. So, here is my version of throw it all in a pot on the stove and make it vegan version.

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups Better Than Bouillon - no chicken broth
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons chipotle chilis in adobo sauce (or more to taste)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (plus more for garnish)
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 8-ounce box Westsoy Chicken flavored Seitan Cubes (cut into bite sized pieces)
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions, for topping
• Toffuti sour cream

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft, 3-4 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, tomato sauce and chipotle adobo sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add drained beans, diced tomatoes, corn, cumin, oregano and stir.

Add the chicken seitan, cover and cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes. Add cilantro. Add salt and cumin to taste.  

Serve in bowls and top with sour cream, scallions and cilantro. You can also top with avocado or crushed tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Roasted Caponata

I had lots of fresh veggies in the frig that needed to be prepared before I ended up letting them get past their prime. I hate it when I do that. So this recipe was inspired by one on The Cooking Channel, I didn't change much and it's awesome. I did serve this over some spaghetti noodles to make it a main dish and heated up a few Gardein Chicken Tenders for some protein. I can't wait to eat the leftovers!

This isn't a very good pic, but the dish is awesome.

• 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with their juice
• 2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 2 summer squash, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 medium-large Globe eggplant, cut into 1-inch rounds (then cut into quarters so it's large bite size)
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch wedges
• 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pour the canned tomatoes into a large roasting pan and spread to cover the bottom.

In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Toss to coat. Pour the vegetables over the canned tomatoes in an even layer.

Cover the roasting pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the edges of the vegetables are golden, about 30 to 40 minutes.

another shitty pic, and you can see we had already dug in when I remembered to take it!

I cooked some spaghetti noodles while this was on it's final roasting stage to serve under the veggies.