Creamy Creole Eggplant Casserole

Ingredients

• Eggplant

  Raw

  2 eggplant, peeled (yield from 1-1/4 lb) or 916g

• Onions

  Raw

  1 medium or 110g

• Green bell pepper

  Sweet, green, raw

  1 large (2-1/4 per lb, approx 3-3/4" long, or 164g

• Celery

  Raw

  2 stalk, medium or 80g

• Garlic

  Raw

  2 cloves, minced or 6g

• Mushrooms

  White, raw

  2 cup, pieces or slices or 140g

• Chickpeas

  (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, canned

  1 ½ cup or 360g

• Parsley

  Raw

  2 tbsp or 8g

• Thyme

  Spices, dried

  ½ tsp, ground or 0.7g

• Cayenne pepper

  Spices, red or cayenne

  ¼ tsp or 0.5g

• Paprika

  Spices

  1 tsp or 2g

• Pepper

  Spices, black

  ¼ tsp or 0.5g

• Tofu

  Silken, firm, Mori-nu, soy

  6 oz or 170g

• Cashew nuts

  Nuts, raw

  ¼ cup or 34g

• Onion powder

  Spices

  ½ tsp or 1g

• Water

  Plain, clean water

  2 tbsp or 30g

• Salt

  Table

  2 tsp or 12g

• Nutritional Yeast

  Vegan - Whole Foods Market

  1 tbsp or 8g

• Bread crumbs

  Dry, grated, seasoned

  1 cup or 120g

• Basil

  Spices, dried

  ⅛ tsp, ground or 0.2g

• Oregano

  Spices, dried

  ⅛ tsp, ground or 0.2g

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Prick eggplants several times with a fork and place on a baking sheet. Bake until completely soft and skin is blackened in places, about 30-40 minutes. Cool, then scoop out the flesh, discarding any liquid. This step can be done a day ahead.
2. Chop all vegetables. In a non-stick pot, optionally rubbed with olive oil, cook onions, green pepper, and celery over medium-high heat until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms, cooking until mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes.
3. Add reserved eggplant, chickpeas, parsley, thyme, cayenne, paprika, and black pepper. Cook on medium heat, breaking up eggplant pieces.
4. In a blender, process tofu, cashews, onion powder, and water until smooth. Scrape mixture into the pot with the eggplant mixture. Stir well, adding nutritional yeast and salt to taste.
5. Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil a shallow baking dish and pour in the eggplant mixture, smoothing the top. Mix breadcrumbs with basil and oregano, sprinkle over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes until browned and hot. Cool before serving.

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