Sunday, March 18, 2018

Eggplant Tomato "Stuffing" Bake


Hold the phone... stop what you're doing... and try this. I'm not going to lie, when my Weight Watchers leader Julie was raving about this recipe yesterday I was a bit skeptical. She compared it to stuffing. Now, stuffing is one of my favorite foods in the whole world... and the key to stuffing is bread. But this recipe doesn't contain any bread. It only contains vegetables. As I bought the ingredients I was doubting Julie... but as I began to prepare this I saw the potential.


Now, I will never be someone who will tell you sugar free jello mix and Greek yogurt tastes EXACTLY like cheesecake, so I'm also not going to tell you this tastes exactly like stuffing. But the texture is spot on and the taste is fabulous. It's like an Italian stuffing... the eggplant bakes down soft and almost bread-like (especially if you let it get crisp which I did)... the other vegetables and the breadcrumbs work well together, and parmesan cheese if life, so this was amazing. A must try. I'm even going to make it for Easter because I think it's that good.

Source: Adapted from my WW leader Julie, who got it from a member named Dawn

2 Weight Watchers Freestyle Points for about 1/6 of this (about 1 cup)

Ingredients:

2 Large unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices, then roughly diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 Roma Tomatoes chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup of bread crumbs or panko
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp dried parsley

Directions:
1- Preheat oven to 400°
2- In a large skillet , add a little bit of olive oil over medium heat; saute onion, red pepper, and garlic until onion is softened, 5 to 10 minutes.
3- In large bowl, combine tomato, eggplant, eggs, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and seasonings (except the dried parsley). Then stir in onion & pepper mixture until fully combined.
4- Spray Pam in a casserole dish. Then add mixture and cover with foil.
5- Bake in the preheated oven until eggplant is fork tender - about 40 minutes.
6-Remove foil and bake for additional 15 minutes until crispy. Stir. Return to the oven under the broiler for about five minutes. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn.
7- Top with dried parsley and serve.

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