The Spicy Spatula

Happy Monday, vegan foodies!

Sometimes there’s a story behind a meal and sometimes it’s a combination of variety and simplicity that makes a meal, ya know? This meal, for instance, has no story behind it. It’s not something from my childhood because I never even tasted an eggplant until I was in my twenties. I didn’t see it on Instagram or TikTok.

I was in the mood for a vegan harvest bowl and when I was at the market I spotted these lovely aubergines. The skin was nice and firm, shiny and a deep shade of purple that I knew I had to use them for something.

So I had to build a vegan meal around eggplant. Where to start?

Eggplant is a pretty versatile ingredient. It takes on flavors very well so you can pretty much do with it what you want. I can only eat eggplant a few ways because I find that it gets mushy too quickly, or maybe that’s my own culinary shortcomings. So roasting it and pureeing it is one of my favorite applications, which means for this easy vegan dinner I needed stuff to go on top of the eggplant dip.

Cauliflower

I chose cauliflower (conopida in Romanian, in case you were interested) because it is a hearty, satisfying vegetable. Not to mention it’s a great source of vitamin C. Mostly because I love cauliflower and it’s a great, low calorie way to fill out a meal.

If you want an oil free vegan recipe, I like to use vegan yogurt or mustard as a fatty agent to coat the cauliflower in before seasoning it. Of course, you can use oil if you want. 🙂

Protein

Next comes the protein. For this particular vegan recipe I chose a vegan meat alternative from Verdino. Just Like Filet is a chicken breast made from pea and beet proteins. You can cook it whole and eat it like that or chop it up and use it as an ingredient.

For the purposes of cooking, I chopped it up and seasoned it and added it to the same baking sheet used to roast the cauliflower.

Is it a complete meal? I think so.

Tell me what you think.

Kitchen Tools:

*Cutting board
*Kitchen knife
*Baking mats
*Food processor

Ingredients:

*Eggplant
*Cauliflower
*Parsley (fresh)
*Lemon zest & juice
*Garlic
*Sesame oil
*Vegan meat alternative

Instructions:

*Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F

*Halve eggplant the long way and brush with oil. It’s not necessary but it will help the skin from charring while cooking.

*Place eggplant in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until it’s soft on the inside. The cook time will depend on the size.

*Slice the top off a head of garlic and place it in the oven with the eggplant. When golden brown, remove and let cool.

*While the eggplant cooks, chop the cauliflower into uniform pieces to help with the cook time. Season it with your choice of herbs & spices. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until tender.

*Feel free to add your vegan meat alternative to the baking mat with the cauliflower or pop it in the air fryer. You can even cook it stove top but I like to save time and multi-task so I added it to a separate tray in the oven.

*Puree the aubergine: In a blender or food processor add scoop the inside of the eggplant right in along with garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest and fresh parsley. Stir in a few drops of sesame oil just for a heightened depth of flavor.

*To plate: Spread the eggplant dip on the bottom of a plate or bowl an top with cauliflower and vegan meat alternative.

See? An easy meal that doesn’t require a lot of work. And as an added bonus, it’s crazy delicious!

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