A light, easy and fresh dinner –Mediterranean Vegan Eggplant Roll Ups. A combination of seasoned cauliflower rice rolled up in grilled eggplant over marinara. This meal is perfect if you are craving something pasta-ish, but want to lighten it up.
Ingredients
FOR THE EGGPLANT
- 1-2*eggplantssliced in 8 half inch pieces
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepperto taste
READY THE FILLING
- 1headcauliflower
- 3clovesgarlicpeeled
- 4ozsun-dried tomatoesin oil
- 5-6largebasil leaves
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ¼cupplain hummus
- 2tablespoonvegan parmesan
- 2cupsbaby spinachchopped
- ½lemonjuiced
- 2teaspoonItalian seasoning
- Salt & pepperto taste
FOR CASSEROLE
- 3-4cupsmarinara
- Vegan parmesanfor topping
- Fresh parsley or basilfor topping
Instructions
FOR EGGPLANT
- Slice eggplant into eight ½” slices. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat a griddle over medium-high heat. Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil.
- Working in batches, grill eggplant until there are gill marks on both sides and eggplant begins to soften. Add additional oil to the pan between batches if needed.
- Set eggplant aside.
MAKE FILLING
- Cut cauliflower into florets and place in a food processor. Blend until cauliflower is the size of rice. Add garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and basil to the food processor and pulse until combined.
- Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add cauliflower mixture to the pan.
- Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add hummus, vegan parmesan, baby spinach, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper to the pan and stir to combine.
- Sauté for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until everything is thoroughly combined, cauliflower is softened and spinach is wilted.
5. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
FOR CASSEROLE
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Pour marinara into the bottom of a baking dish and spread evenly.
- Top each eggplant slice with 2-4 tablespoons of filling (depending on how wide the slice is).
- Roll eggplant slices up and place in the baking dish on top of the marinara sauce.
- Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes – or until everything is warmed through.
- Remove from the oven and top with vegan parmesan and parsley (or basil).
- Plate eggplant with marinara and serve.
Notes
*If you want 8 uniform large pieces, you will want to use 2 eggplants. If you are ok with 4 of the slices being on the smaller side (like I did), use 1 eggplant.