GF Vegan Eggplant Parmesan

Today was a day of discovery for me. I rifled through my entire Pinterest account and re-pinned my own pins into categories called "Veganize This." I made four- Breakfast, Lunch/Dinner, Dessert and Snacks. While doing this I found a great resource for some fun vegan recipes. I got lost in it!

http://foodgawker.com/tag/vegan/page/2/#1

Of all the things I can cook, my Achilles' heel was always eggplant. I'm not sure why but I always messed it up. Today I tried again and the results turned out pretty good!

I did a little research and discovered that peeling eggplant helps smooth out the texture, and soaking it in salt water for a few minutes gets it pliable. I did this before I started.

Funny thing is that I went to all these extra lengths to make this recipe gluten-free, even though I was pretty sure he would hate the texture. Autistic kids almost always have texture issues and my son is no exception. He is very picky and didn't care for this, but ironically my middle son who inquired and subsequently scoffed the eggplant LOVED it. Kids... What are you gonna do?

Vegan Eggplant Parmesan

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium eggplant (peeled, sliced 1/4 inch thick, soaked in salt water and patted dry)

2 slices Udi's gluten-free bread (you can use regular bread too)

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 cup almond milk

1 cup shredded or sliced vegan cheese

3 cups pasta sauce (I know it's not very foodie but my very favorite sauce of all time is Prego)

2 Tbsp Vegan Parmesan

1 box quinoa pasta, any type

Place the eggplant on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Broil until the eggplant is browned on both sides.

Toast the Udi's bread and pulse it in a food processor with the Italian seasoning. Place in a shallow bowl.

Remove from the oven and let cool. Set the oven to bake at 350 degrees. Boil the water and cook the quinoa pasta.

Dip each slice of eggplant into the almond milk and dredge them one by one into the bread crumb mixture. Return them to the baking sheet and sprinkle them with shredded vegan cheese (or top each one with thinly-sliced vegan block cheese). Pour pasta sauce evenly over the top of the eggplant and bake until the pasta is al dente, drained and rinsed, and cheese is melted.

To serve, plate the pasta and top with the eggplant, then scoop the sauce over the top. Generously sprinkle with vegan Parmesan or nutritional yeast.