Healthy Baked Eggplant

Eggless Eggplant Recipe with Vegetarian and Vegan Variations

© Jill Harris

Feb 9, 2008
Healthy Baked Eggplant Served with Pasta Marinara, J. Harris
Eggplant sops up a lot of oil when fried. To cut fat, use a lower-fat coating and bake instead. Cheese and nutritional yeast are optional, but add a nice tangy zip.

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplants are also known as aubergines, which is also the name of its intense dark purple colour. In many countries, eggplant is best known for its starring role in Eggplant Parmesan, where it is coated in an egg breading, fried until crispy, and topped with tomato sauce and oodles of mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Because eggplant is so prone to sucking up oil, baking it in a lower-fat coating can make eggplant dishes significantly healthier. In this recipe, the bread coating is "stuck on" using mayonnaise dressing instead of beaten egg.

Using Vegenaise brand or other vegan mayo is an easy way to make this dish dairy-free and egg-free without sacrificing taste. Nutritional yeast can stand in for parmesan, but neither is really necessary to make the final product delicisio!

Selecting an Eggplant

Eggplants should be selected by their shiny, smooth skin and blemish-free exteriors. Eggplants should not be stored in the fridge. Some exotic varieties are extremely bitter, but the common purple variety is much more palatable. When cooked, eggplant collapses internally and its once-firm flesh morphs into a creamy or slightly chewy texture. In this dish, the outside of the eggplant remains pleasantly firm but the interior is smooth and silky.

Preparing Eggplant

It used to be considered necessary to cover eggplant slices in salt before using to "draw out" the bitterness. This step has very little effect when using the less bitter varieties. For this reason, it is excluded in this recipe.

Baked Eggplant Recipe

Serves 3-4 as an accompaniment to a main dish.

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup vegan or regular mayonnaise, or Miracle Whip type dressing;
  • ½ small onion, minced
  • 1 medium/large eggplant, unpeeled
  • 1/3 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
  • ¼ - ½ cup nutritional yeast (vegan) OR 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese (vegetarian)
  • ¼ tsp. dried oregano
  • ¼ tsp. (heaping) dried basil leaf
  • Vegetable oil cooking spray

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise and minced onion.
  3. Slice off the bottom and top of the eggplant and slice into rounds no wider than ½” thick.
  4. In a shallow bowl or pan, combine the breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast OR parmesan, dried oregano and dried basil.
  5. Spray a large baking sheet with vegetable oil spray or a light brush of oil.
  6. Spread, brush, or dip each slice of eggplant into the mayonnaise mixture, then dredge in breadcrumbs mixture.
  7. Place coated eggplant slices onto baking sheet in a single layer.
  8. Repeat until all slices are coated.
  9. Bake eggplant slices at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.
  10. Flip slices over and bake an additional 12 minutes or until golden.
  11. Note: if using parmesan cheese, watch closely to prevent burning.
  12. Serve with pasta and chunky tomato sauce. Top with additional grated cheese, if desired.

Reference: McGee, H. On Food and Cooking. Scribner: New York; 2004.


The copyright of the article Healthy Baked Eggplant in Vegetarian Recipes is owned by Jill Harris. Permission to republish Healthy Baked Eggplant in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


Healthy Baked Eggplant Served with Pasta Marinara, J. Harris
Healthy Baked Eggplant Served with Pasta Marinara, J. Harris
     


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Comments
Dec 2, 2008 3:17 PM
Guest :
This tasted amazing~~!
Feb 16, 2009 8:47 AM
Guest :
I made these last night and they were a big hit! My future son-in-law who is a cook and restaurant owner asked me for the recipe :) I used the parm cheese and light mayo. I also peeled the eggplant before slicing.
Mar 28, 2009 12:32 AM
Guest :
i made this tonight and it was fabulous. i made a few adjustments though: im vegan and dont use alot of soy product so i didnt use the mayo or vegan mayo. insteaad i used a thick salad dressing..its called 'goddess dressing' to dip the eggplant. i used nutritional yeast mixed with the herbs. i ate it over some wonton type noodles and made a sauce with tomato sauce and some salsa that i had( had to improvise)and it was sooo delicious. definitely gonna make this again!!!
Aug 27, 2009 10:34 AM
Guest :
Was easy to make and tasted excellent.
4 Comments