Oven Roasted Eggplant w/ Garlic, Sun-dried tomato & Capers

Happy Hump Day, my pretties!

I hope today’s recipe finds you well because I am off sight-seeing for a couple of days to celebrate the release of my newest romance novel, Make Me Want To Love You, and enjoying some much needed time off.

BUT, that doesn’t mean that you should have to go without a yummy vegan recipe today. Right?

Of course.

So this is another recipe I saw on Instagram because with so much other stuff going on, who has time to come up with dishes like this when someone else has already done it? This recipe is a riff on one from @starinfinitefood which looked so amazing that I bought 2 eggplants the next day just to try this out.

But you guys know me when it comes to easy vegan recipes and you know I had to find a few ways to make it my own and fit within my own dietary wants & needs. First, this isn’t a vegan creator so I had to make a few adjustments on ingredients like butter but also there was more oil than I would like in any recipe.

My goal was to create this vegan recipe in flavor while keeping it true to my own needs.

So let’s get to the Oven Roasted Eggplant with a delicious Mediterranean style vegan crumble on top.

Kitchen Tools:

*Cutting board
*Mixing bowls
*Baking sheets
*Spray bottle or silicon brush

Ingredients:

*Eggplant
*Garlic
*Sun dried tomatoes
*Capers
*Mint
*Lemon zest
*Pumpkin seeds
*Balsamic vinegar
*Oil (I used sunflower as it’s local)
*Zucchini
*Couscous (optional or use another grain)

Instructions:

*Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F

*Wash and slice eggplant and zucchini. I found an adorable round green zucchini so I had to test it out. Make the slices somewhat thick so they cook evenly without getting mushy.

*Spray the baking sheet or brush it with a light coat of oil. Add eggplant to the baking sheet and season with salt, pepper, paprika, cumin and garlic powder. Toss with your hands to coat. Do the same with the zucchini but it won’t go in the oven until later, so set aside. Roast eggplant about 15 minutes and then add zucchini.

*Cook the couscous (or other grain) according to package instructions.

*Chop the sun-dried tomatoes, capers, lemon zest and mint into small pieces roughly the same size. Place in a small mixing bowl and toss with about 15 grams of balsamic vinegar. Set aside.

*At the 20 to 25 minute mark, check the eggplant and zucchini. They should be slightly brown but still firm. Remove from oven and get ready to plate.

*I laid the eggplant and zucchini on a bed of couscous and topped with the vegan crumble, sprinkling it by hand. And your eyes are not deceiving you, there’s vegan pesto on there as well because I’m going out of town for a few days and needed to use is because it’s an oil free vegan recipe–of course–and I didn’t want it to go bad! Oil free vegan pesto is totally optional.

Sidenote: There was tahini in this recipe, which I love, but I left it out because calories. Maybe it would’ve made this dish even better, and maybe next time I’ll give it try.

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