Eggplant Casserole- Gluten Free, Soy Free, and Vegan!

Recently my partner and I bought a CSA share. It works a little differently for us, since we're on food stamps. It's a great set up actually, we put a refundable $50 deposit down, and pay $24 in our EBT money every week when we pick up our veggies. Lately our shares have looked something like this:

• Three summer squash
• One cucumber
• Head of lettuce
• Bunch of herb (basil, parsley, cilantro)
• A ton of tomatoes
• Garlic
• Onion
• Romano Beans

They vary week-to-week but that's roughly what our fridge looks like. The farm- Dancing Roots Farm, is like a 30-minute car ride (according to google maps) from where we live. That's pretty freaking local. And of course, its organic, and yadda-yadda. So that's pretty freaking exciting for us. We both have a strong desire to eat whole, organic, sustainable foods. Not because we believe in ethical capitalism or any such nonsense but because we both grew up without a sense of what to eat to keep our bodies feeling good and healthy. So we're learning together how to do this, and food stamps really help. I'm grateful that there are CSA's that take food stamps. If picking up a weekly CSA is a possible reality in your life, and you get SNAP benefits, I strongly recommend checking out if there are any that take EBT in your area.

So we had an eggplant sitting in the fridge from last week and had done nothing with it. I've only cooked eggplant once in my life and it was with friends who had a better idea of what we were doing. I found a really simple recipe for a casserole and decided to veganize it. My partner and I both have lactose sensitivities and honestly, I think cashew cheese is kind of yummier than mozzarella. Also, its funner this way.

It took a bit of prep but it was so worth it. Many of these things you can prepare ahead of time and can or freeze them. I'll probably make separate posts about the things that went into it but I'll detail what I did here as well.

This recipe is vegan, gluten free, soy free, and low sodium. You can easily modify it depending on your dietary needs and preferences.

Eggplant Casserole

(the final product, half eaten)

Ingredients:

• One small/medium sized eggplant (sliced to 1/4" thick pieces)
• One yellow onion (sliced however you prefer)
• 2 cups mushrooms (sliced)
• Two cloves garlic (finely chopped)

For the sauce:

• One 24oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 stick of butter (we used Earth Balance)
• One yellow onion, cut in half (keep the skin on)

For the cashew cheese:

• 1 cup cashews, soaked at least one hour
• ~1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• dash each of:
• thyme
• rosemary
• basil
• oregano
• note: fresh or dried is fine
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Small handful of nutritional yeast (to taste)
• dash of salt (to taste)

Vegan Parmesean:

• One part Almond meal or flour
• One part Nutritional yeast
• dash salt (optional)

Topping:

• Pine nuts

Step 1: Soak the Cashews

Start by soaking the cashews. Cover them just enough so they're submerged, but not too much more. Set a timer for one hour.

Step 2: Begin the sauce

While they soak, start your sauce. Combine all of the ingredients in a cast iron pan. Let it stew, covered, for 45 minutes. When the 45 minutes are up, just remove the onion! That's it! It's so easy... Sometimes I notice with Earth Balance, it's a little too liquidy, so I'll take the onions out, uncover it and let it reduce on medium-high for anywhere between 5-15 minutes until its a consistency you like. I like it kind of pastey, so this is an important step for me.

Step 3: Prep the veggies

Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil, place the eggplant in a single layer, and brush oil over the tops. Cook for a total of 6 minutes, flipping in between (3 minutes on each side) at 375F.

Sauté the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in 2-3 Tbsp olive oil until the onions are translucent.

Layer the eggplant on the bottom of a bread loaf pan (or something similar in size). Cover that with the sautéed onions, mushrooms, and garlic.

Step 4: Make the cheese(s)

Strain the cashews, but save the water. Combine all of the ingredients, minus the water, in a food processor or blender. Blend until its pretty smooth, then add water one tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency. I use anywhere between 2-4 tablespoons.

If you want vegan parmesan, just combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and use a whisk to incorporate them well.

Step 5: Put it all together

Slather your sauce on top of the layered veggies. You can choose how saucey you want it. I used only half of the sauce I made, and ended up saving the rest for later in a tupperware. On top of the sauce, put your cashew cheese. I just used a rubber spatula to slather it on. If it combines with the sauce a little, that's okay. I like to cover the whole "loaf". Then I sprinkle on some of the parmesan, cover the pan with foil, and stick it in the oven (still heated to 375F) for like, 40-45 minutes or so.

Let it cool for 10 minutes, then serve!! I like to sprinkle pine nuts on top... yum!!!

And that's it!!

If you want to, you can make the sauce and the cheeses ahead of time. I want to try canning sauce, but that's for another post. You can certainly make it and it will keep in the fridge for maybe a week. More might be pushing it. As for the cheese, the vegan parm keeps indefinitely in the fridge, and the cashew cheese can easily be frozen and kept for many months, I'd assume! Just stick it in the fridge to thaw out a day or two before you want to use it.

Sorry I don't have more pictures, I didn't think I was going to start a blog today!!