Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Baked Eggplant Dip

My mom was visiting recently and we decided to visit the farmer's market held at Portland State University on Saturdays.  This is the biggest farmers market that I know of in Portland and it's fantastic!  There is a huge variety of offerings, including kimchee, nut-based cheese, pastries, jams, food carts, flowers, candles, local meats and eggs, and of course tons fresh produce.

My mom was craving eggplant, so I decided to make what I thought would be more of an eggplant lasagna, but really became a dip.  I sliced the eggplant lengthwise and coated it in olive oil and salt.  I sliced red onions, chopped kalamata olives, and steamed about a pound of fresh spinach.  I also purchased a bag of Daiya Mozzarella style cheese.  This cheese is soy-free and tastes fantastic.  The only vegan cheese I've ever enjoyed has been the Dr Cow Nut Cheeses and was surprised that I liked the daiya brand so much.

I took a glass bread pan, about 4 inches wide or so, and coated it with olive oil.  Then I began layering all the ingredients, adding salt and olive oil to the layers of eggplant.  I popped it, uncovered, into a 400 degree oven and cooked it until the eggplant was soft.  My pan was packed to the brim before cooking and afterwards it had sunken down quite a bit.  I probably had it in the over for maybe an hour, but was busy enjoying time with R & JB and quickly lost track of time.


I served it with bread on the side, but ended up adding it as a spread to the bread instead.  This was fantastic for leftovers!  I just topped leftover rosemary bread with the spread and put it into the toaster oven.


For dessert, we picked up Almond Coconut Minis by So Delicious which are chocolate-dipped ice cream bars made with coconut ice cream and covered in almonds.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry I missed this. It looks fantastic. Especially the baked dish!!! Ta

Anonymous said...

Can we please cook together when I come down again? YL