Amazing Roasted Eggplant

Eggplant is one of those vegetables that you have to cook properly or it can taste really gross (in my opinion).   This dish is simple and can be prepared even on busy weekday nights.  It’s my favorite way to eat eggplant.  I may or may have not eaten almost an entire eggplant this way in one sitting.

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Amazing Roasted Eggplant

Healthy, Vegetarian, Side, Side dish, Vegan, Simple, Clean, Meatless monday, Local, Farmers market

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• salt to let eggplant sweat
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1-2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Slice eggplant in half lengthwise, then cut into quarters and chop eggplant into cubes.
3. Place eggplant in colander and sprinkle with salt. Let sit to let eggplant sweat for half hour. Rinse them in colander and place in between two paper towels to pat dry.
4. Place the eggplant in a large resealable bag and pour the oil, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary in the bag. Shake it up to evenly coat.
5. Lay eggplant onto baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes until soft.
6. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with lemon juice and Parmesan cheese if desired.
7. Serve immediately.

Allowing your eggplant to “sweat” is crucial for the this dish because it removes some of the moisture which really improves the texture (otherwise it gets spongy.) I didn’t add Parmesan to my eggplant, but I have a feeling some of you might like that 🙂  Let me know how you like it!