Eggplant Parmesan with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Potato Wedges!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Or, in my case, happy St. Sick Day.

Yes, I'm sick again. Ugh. I'm miserable (I've had toast and orange juice today, and I'm almost out of orange juice) and tired. 

But there's a bright side! I can blog!

My dear friend Caroline (click her name to read her blog!) requested that I make a dish with eggplant. I was tempted to make baba ghanoush (which will definitely happen at some point anyway) but I decided on eggplant parm. In general I'm very nervous with eggplant (I tend to overcook it), but I tried!

I was tempted to make this with pasta as that seems to be the traditional route, but I wanted something a little healthier. I've been on an unhealthy binge lately and for a vegan blog, I'm lackin' some veggies.

So now I will deliver!

Caroline, I hope you like this! I was pleasantly surprised. 

I'm going to give measurements for this that'll serve two people (I made this for myself and my boyfriend) so feel free to adjust to your liking!

Let's go step by step and we'll start with the potato wedges. (Note: This can all be made at the same time. It's easier if you have a buddy to help you with prep work, but I managed to put all of this together in the oven at the same time. If you do that, move the middle tray up a little, put the potato wedges on the top tray, and the Brussels sprouts and eggplant parm on the bottom one. Then take out the potatoes and the Brussels sprouts and put the eggplant parm on the top rack so it can broil for a few minutes.)

ingredients:

• four potatoes (I used four Russets)
• extra virgin olive oil/EVOO
• your choice of spices (I used salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and a hint of cayenne pepper)

instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahreinheit.
2. Cut potatoes to your liking. I cut mine in half lengthwise, then cut again four more times to make some nice sized wedges.
3. Lightly dry wedges with paper towels and put into a large bowl.
4. Coat lightly with EVOO and mix in spices. Stir gently with a wooden spoon.
5. Cook for 17 minutes. Flip wedges with tongs. Cook for another 16-17 minutes.

Now for the Brussels sprouts!

ingredients:

• one bag of Brussels sprouts (or a handful of two, depending on your appetite)
• extra virgin olive oil/EVOO
• about two Tablespoons of lemon juice
• garlic powder, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste

instructions:

1. Cut the stems off the sprouts and peel off any yellow-ish leaves.
2. In a medium bowl, lightly coat the sprouts in EVOO. Add lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper and mix.
3. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees Fahreinheit for about 18 minutes.

And now, the most important piece of all!

The eggplant parmesan!

ingredients:

• six slices of eggplant, about 1/4" thick
• 1/2 cup plain, unsweetened soy milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 Tablespoon vegan sour cream (Tofutti makes a good one!)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 cup breadcrumbs* (see note)
• your favourite tomato sauce
• a sprinkling of vegan mozzarella ** (see note)

*Note: A lot of breadcrumbs aren't vegan, so be sure to check the label!

**Note: For my vegan cheese, I used a homemade firm mozzarella from the wonderful cookbook The Non-Dairy Formulary! I highly recommend this book. Some of the ingredients are a little pricey but they last forever and you only use a little bit at a time so!

instructions:

1. Preheat oven to (you guessed it!) 400 degrees Fahreinheit.
2. Cut your eggplant and sprinkle a light layer of salt on the slices. This will cause your eggplant to "sweat". The salt draws out moisture from the eggplant, making it overall easier to coat and batter. Let it "sweat" for 20-30 minutes. 
3. While the eggplant is sweating, mix the batter. Pour the soy milk into a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the flour and vegan sour cream.
4. In a shallow dish or on a plate, mix the breadcrumbs with the salt, oregano, parsley, and basil. 
5. Once the eggplant has finished sweating, rinse off the slices with water and pat dry.
6. Dip the eggplant into the liquid batter, then cover with breadcrumbs. Pat each side to ensure an even coat, flip, repeat. Do this with all slices.
7. Put on a pan with parchment paper and cook for 15-18 minutes, flipping halfway through.
8. Take out of the oven and cover with tomato sauce and vegan mozzarella. Put under the broiler for 1-3 minutes depending on your oven/how melted the cheese gets.

Look at that!

Look at that beauty.

Hopefully you all enjoyed that! If you have any questions or requests, feel free to comment or send me an email!

xo, Kate