This is a standard that I keep on hand to use instead of meat in many ethnic recipes, or just use cold on a sandwich or in a wrap. The roasted veggies make an excellent filling for tacos, burritos, and enchiladas. Try adding them to your favorite marinara sauce and serve over whole grain pasta or to your favorite Thai or curry sauce and serve over brown rice or quinoa.
Ingredients
Preparation
Option 1 - quicker, easier way
Option 2 – slower, tastier way. I prefer to caramelize the onion and I find that the eggplant takes a little longer to roast than the other veggies. So, to keep the other veggies from getting over-cooked while bringing out the best flavors in the onion and the eggplant, roast the onion and eggplant a little longer.
Variation: you can add or substitute corn, sweet potatoes, or any vegetables you like.
- 1 red onion, sliced & quartered
- 2-3 red, yellow, and/or orange bell peppers, cut into strips
- 2 standard eggplants or 4 Chinese or Japanese eggplants, sliced into 1-2” pieces no thicker than ¼ “
- 6 zucchini and/or yellow summer squash, sliced the same as the eggplant
- 8-16 oz. mushrooms (I like the baby bella (portabella) mushrooms), sliced
- 2 large carrots (or equivalent baby carrots) in ½ - 1” lengths
- 1 clove garlic (or as desired), chopped or pressed
- ~1 Tbs fresh ginger, grated (optional)
- Herb seasoning
- 1 Tbs olive oil or ~ 3 sec squirt of olive oil spray
- Sea salt
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.
- Tenderize eggplant with sea salt (optional): heavily salt the eggplant slices and place in a colander in the sink for 30 min (the salt will draw out liquid, making the eggplant slices “sweat”). Rinse eggplant slices thoroughly to remove excess salt and pat dry before roasting.
Option 1 - quicker, easier way
- Wash and cut up all remaining veggies while waiting for the eggplant to sweat.
- Spray all veggies together with oil spray and toss to coat (or toss with olive oil).
- Season to taste with sea salt and/or other seasoning.
- Place in a sprayed or oiled roasting pan and bake for 45 min -1 hour, stirring every 15-20 min, until the veggies reach desired doneness.
Option 2 – slower, tastier way. I prefer to caramelize the onion and I find that the eggplant takes a little longer to roast than the other veggies. So, to keep the other veggies from getting over-cooked while bringing out the best flavors in the onion and the eggplant, roast the onion and eggplant a little longer.
- While the eggplant is sweating, cut up the onion, coat in oil, then put the sliced, coated onion by itself into the roasting pan and place it in the oven, stirring every 10-15 min.
- Add the rinsed, dried, coated eggplant to the pan with the onions and continue roasting (stir the eggplant and onion after ~10-15 min).
- Cut up the remaining veggies and coat with spray or oil.
- Add the remaining veggies to the pan stir well.
- Roast until veggies reach desired doneness (~1 hour).
Variation: you can add or substitute corn, sweet potatoes, or any vegetables you like.