This recipe is the perfect meal-prep solution to tackle a beautiful pile of summer eggplant.  I cooked this up on Monday evening for dinner, and I have been enjoying the leftovers for lunches in various forms throughout the week.  Although it seems compacted into a baking loaf, this makes a lot of food that has kept me well-fed during my work-from-home time.  Plus, with all of the roasting done at one time, these leftovers are ready at a moment’s notice to top salads, fill sandwiches, or stuff into omelets.   

This recipe is very simple but does have a fairly long cook-time, which will pay off in having pre-roasted eggplant ready for you all week.  I used 3 large Japanese eggplant (the long, skinny variety, pictured below).  These are my personal favorites because they are never overly seeded or too bitter, just full of flesh that is nice and sweet once roasted.  Along with the eggplant, chickpeas and feta are added for some protein and flavor, while the whole dish is flavored throughout with parsley, onions, and ras el hanout.  I’ve used ras el hanout in recipes before, but if you don’t have any on hand, don’t despair!  Ideas for substitutions or to make this blend yourself can be found here.

The final result is flavorful, roasted eggplant that is the perfect vegetarian dinner.  Recipe down below along with plenty of photos!  I’ll add a few more posts about how I’ve been eating my leftovers as well, hopefully that will spark some more ideas on how to enjoy your roasted eggplant!

Roasted Eggplant with Chickpeas and Feta

Ingredients:

• 3 large Japanese eggplants
• 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp ras el hanout
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ cup breadcrumbs

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Wash and dry the eggplant.  Using a sharp knife, cut the eggplant into manageable sized segments (usually halves or thirds).  Split the segments into quarters (lengthwise), and cut the quarters into 1-inch thick slices.  Add the sliced of eggplant to a large bowl, set aside.
3. Halve and peel a large onion, then cut into large dice.  Add the diced onion to the bowl with the eggplant.
4. Drain and rinse the canned chickpeas, being sure to shake most of the water off after rinsing.  Add the drained chickpeas to the bowl with the onion and the eggplant.
5. Add the feta cheese crumbles, olive oil, ras el hanout, and salt to the bowl with the eggplant.  Using your hands (or tongs if you prefer), mix everything together until all components are well combined and fully coated in the seasoning and oil.
6. Transfer the eggplant mixture into a loaf pan.  This should fill up the loaf pan entirely.  Contents will shrink slightly during cooking, so fill it up high!
7. Top the eggplant mixture with the breadcrumbs.
8. Put the loaf pan in the oven and roast for 1 hour.  After one hour, check a piece of eggplant for done-ness by removing a piece and ensuring that it is fully tender.  If tender, remove from the oven and allow to rest for about 15 minutes before consuming.  If not tender, continue to cook for another 20 minutes or so before testing again.
9. Enjoy!

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