Delicious-Eggplant Rollups & No-Meat Balls (Eat to Live)

Smell the garlic and onions.  Feel the warmth as you step inside your house from the cold weather. Doesn't that sound so nice? 

I was so happy to finally check out Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, MD from our library. 

Now I need to buy it because I wasn't able to re-check it out due to other holds on it.  Bummer!

Dr. Fuhrman writes about the science of how food works in the body and how you should consume as many nutrients as you can in each meal.  I was able to make a few recipes which were all very flavorful and packed with veggies.  Dave and Keaton really loved all of these recipes too. 

Eggplant Rollups

These were more flavorful than the tofu ricotta spinach ones I usually make.  Next time I'm doubling the recipe because they were eaten way to quickly. 

Towards the end of summer my heirloom tomatoes were abundant so I was able to use them up by making lots of marinara sauce which I used in both of these recipes.  Dave actually had his fill of tomatoes because I was using them on a daily basis.  Personally I don't think you can eat too many tomatoes. 

No-Meat Balls

from Eat to Live

Makes 16-18 balls

1-2 T. water or low or no salt sodium vegetable broth

1/2 C. diced onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 C. diced celery

2 T. parsley, minced

1/4 tsp. dried sage

1 tsp.dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 1/2 C. cooked lentils or 1 15 oz. can lentils

1/4 C. cooked brown rice (I needed to use 1/2C.)

2-3 T. tomato paste

1 T. arrowroot powder or whole wheat flour

2 T. Dr Fuhrman's MatoZest or other no-salt seasoning

2 T. nutritional yeast

ground pepper to taste

optional: vital wheat gluten for a chewier consistency

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a saute pan heat 1-2 T. water or broth.  Add onion and garlic and saute for 5 min or so.  Add celery, parsley, sage, basil and oregano.  Saute for another 5min. adding more water or broth as needed to prevent sticking.

In mixing bowl  combine sauteed vegetables with remaining ingredients.  Mix well.

Mash lightly with tomato masher.  With wet hands for 2 T. of mixture into a smooth ball.  Place on very lightly oiled baking pan and bake for 30-40min.  (I used a spray oil for pan and then lightly sprayed the balls).

Serving suggestions:  serve with marinara, over pasta or as a sandwich filling.

Have you tried any recipes from Eat to Live?  How did you like them?

Have a great weekend and stay warm and dry!

Eggplant Parmesan?

I had a couple of eggplants sitting around. What to do? Make Eggplant Parmesan, if you can call it that.

Preheat oven to 375.

You will need a cookie sheet and one small casserole dish ( I used a 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch).

Should serve 4 people.

Bread crumbs if making homemade:

2 cups. bread crumbs -seasoned with:

1 tsp. thyme, dried

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. basil, dried

1 tsp. oregano, dried

1 Tbsp. vegan parma (Eat in the Raw)

3 tbsp. melted earth balance

Mix the above ingredients together, set aside.

Marinara sauce with fresh basil added.

2 eggplants

Slice into 12, 1/2inch thick rounds. Salt the slices if you wish and set in colander for about 30 minutes to take out the bitterness. Then rinse off.

Tofu filling:

1/2 cup pine nuts plus 1 tbsp.

1 7.5 oz extra firm tofu (I used this because it's what I had on hand)

1 Tbsp. Olive oil

1/4 c. soy milk

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp rosemary

t tsp. salt

I got the idea to use the pine nuts in the filling from Veganomican's pine nut cream recipe. In food processor blend 1/2 cup pine nuts, until creamy. Then add olive oil, tofu, soy milk, dried herbs and salt. Next mix mix by hand 1 Tbsp. whole pine nuts.

First take your eggplant slices and you can dip them in water or non-dairy milk, then press the bread crumbs into each slice. You really have to press the breadcrumbs into the eggplant to get it to stick. As you can see in the picture it didn't get all around the edges but that is okay. Put them on cookie sheet and spray them with olive oil, this will help coat the eggplant that is not covered with the breadcrumbs. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until soft. Flip carefully after about 10 minutes.

Layering: In your casserole dish coat with marinara sauce then layer one row of eggplant. Next add a light layer of marinara, then all of the tofu ricotta filling, then more marinara. Top off with the rest of the eggplant and cover with the rest of your marinara sauce. Cover with foil and bake for about 40 minutes.

When done serve with your favorite pasta.