Roasted Eggplant Appetizer & Other Veggies

I'm sharing two reicpes. One for Mediteranean Eggplant and scroll down for Middle Eastern Roasted vegetables.

Mediterranean Roasted Eggplant is simple to make.

It's a fat free,gluten free, and vegan side dish that is very tasty but low in calories ( It's 0 points Plus on WW) as well.

It's a perfect recipe for dieters or for those looking for some variety to spice up their meal. We love to roast veggies because roasting really brings out their sweet flavor, and it makes any vegetable taste amazing.

We eat roasted eggplant as a spread on gluten free crackers or as a side dish with our dinner or a topping on veggie burgers.

When I am roasting , I usually try to roast a few different kinds of veggies at the same time. I might put in cauliflower that I seasoned and sprayed with olive oil, or sliced zucchini or grape or cherry tomatoes sliced down the middle. See pictures at end of this post of those vegetables.

 The grape or cherry tomatoes are my favorite because they  become especially sweet and  delicious. I use them on burgers instead of ketchup.

I combine cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and garlic which I spray with olive oil and could be topped with  a little Parmesan cheese.  All of these side dishes are low calorie, low fat, and gluten free. As you can tell from the picture, the spread is not particularly pretty, but the garlic and fresh lemon with the sweet roasted eggplant are absolutely delicious.

Mediterranean Roasted Eggplant

Ingredients

2 whole eggplants, washed

6-8 cloves fresh garlic, unpeeled

1 clove peeled, pressed

1  whole fresh lemon, squeeze juice of entire lemon

Optional: 1 TBSP olive oil ( if you don't mind the calories)

salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste



Directions:

Place whole unpierced eggplant and unpeeled garlic on a cookie sheet. Bake at 500 for about 45 minutes or until eggplant splits open and the inside pulp is very soft ( soft enough to scoop out). Scoop out the eggplant ( discarding seeds and skin of eggplant) and place in a bowl (the eggplant will cook down and won't make as much as you think.)

 Squeeze the inside of the unpeeled garlic into the eggplant ( it will be soft and sweet) AND add the pressed raw garlic if you are a garlic lover. Add the juice of 1 fresh lemon and olive oil if desired. Season with salt and freshly cracked pepper.Serve warm or cold. Enjoy on GF crackers, GF bread, or with other veggies.

Wash eggplants well and place egpplant and unpeeled garlic on a cookie sheet

Bake in oven at 500 for about 45 minutes or until eggplants split and are very soft



Remove eggplant from oven. Take a fork and scrape soft eggplant into a dish ( discard seeds and juice)

Mix with the other ingredients and serve as a side dish or on GF crackers

Other Veggies That I Roasted At the Same Time

These can be cooked with the eggplant but will finish in about 25 minutes

Before roasting I put these in a large zip loc bag with seasoning and shook. Then sprayed them
If you aren't concerned with calories, put olive oil in the baggie too.. will really crisp up when roasting.
Put these on the bottom shelf so they don't burn and check after about 1/2 hour.



Sprinkle with a little Parmesan or we prefer to squeeze lemon juice on top. 

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