Vegan Eggplant Not-Parmesan

I took a huge leap tonight and made eggplant parmesan, minus the parmesan! Thus, eggplant not-parmesan. I also swapped out my regular pasta for whole wheat pasta and it tasted good! I was pleasantly surprised to find 8g of protein per serving and 4 g of fiber in the whole wheat pasta! Bonus!

So, instead of setting up a breading station (with eggs, flour and bread crumbs with parmesan cheese) to make a classic eggplant parmesan dish, I grilled the eggplant on my indoor cast iron griddle by slicing the eggplant into circles, drizzling with extra virgin olive oil and seasoning both sides with salt and pepper. I grilled them on each side for several minutes until they softened up a bit and got nice grill marks on them. Then, I took a major short cut and used store bought tomato basil marinara sauce to layer underneath and on top of the eggplant in a baking dish. This is where the Vegan swap outs continue--this is all new terrain for me! I used Vegan mozarella cheese to sprinkle on top. The brand I found was Daiya. I baked it in a 350 degree F oven for 40 minutes or so until it was bubbly.

I have never had Vegan cheese. This Vegan eggplant not-parmesan wasn't half bad! I found some Vegan Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top and I tore up some fresh basil for garnish. I actually enjoyed this Veganized eggplant not-parmesan dish because it was lighter and yet very satisfying--it still hit most of the flavor notes of classic eggplant parmesan but it didn't make me feel guilty for eating it. The Vegan cheese definitely didn't melt the same way as regular mozarella cheese, but it was still creamy tasting and added the visual element of having "cheese" on this classically cheesy dish. It wasn't greasy either, which was nice.

I feel like this Vegan eggplant not-parmesan was a fair swap out and definitely something I would be willing and excited to make again. Usually I eat a ton of pasta, but I tried serving myself a smaller amount with two slices of eggplant, and it was all the better for me because I didn't walk away feeling heavy and overly stuffed, just pleasantly sated. That is the key state that I need to train my body to reach, pleasantly sated and not overly stuffed. I have to remind myself that if I get hungry in two hours, I can eat some fruit or nuts or some kind of snack. And somehow that idea comforts me--I can always eat again later!

Baby steps...changing my habits, changing my recipes...baby steps...I will get there, I will. Day 15 in a row of Vegan meals, day 19 of Vegetarian. I am half way done with this challenge to eat Vegan meals for 30 days. If I can do it, anyone can!