The sun is shining and I am excited to get outside! It is very clear that the weather is taking a turn and the fall cool weather is in the air. I love fall….but the winter that follows….not so much.
This week I felt like roasting up some eggplant. We didn’t have any eggplant in my farm share–but of course, I could get hold of one at the farm stand. So, I did!
I brushed some eggplant slices with olive oil, dusted with some grated parmesan cheese and roasted for about 20 minutes until fork tender. Then I topped with a thin slice of Swiss cheese; YES, I double dipped on the cheese in this recipe!
Then I topped the eggplant with this gorgeous salsa!
This salsa could be enjoyed on chicken or fish too!
How easy is this dish…
This is what we had for dinner. Russ was looking around in the oven for some meat. You know how guys are….love their protein, right? But this made a nice meatless dinner. At least… I thought so!
The next night we had a big serving of meatloaf (made amazing….by my husband!) Hmmmmm….I think I have a new strategy….make a meatless dinner and your husband will volunteer to make dinner the next night! HA!
I hope you enjoy this dish…it’s really yummy!
Parm Crusted Roasted Eggplant with Pepper Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 medium eggplant, cut in about 1/2 inch slices
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 4-5 thinly sliced Swiss cheese ( I purchased at deli counter), cut in half to fit eggplant slice
- Salsa:
- 1 small yellow bell pepper, diced and deseeded
- 1 large farm fresh tomato, diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit
- Place slices of eggplant on large cookie sheet and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
- Place in oven and cook for about 20 minutes until fork tender.
- Top each eggplant with slice of Swiss cheese and return to oven for about a minute to melt cheese.
- Remove from oven and place eggplant on plate to serve.
- Mix salsa ingredients together.
- Top with salsa as desired.
Lauren
Hi Kate,
This sounds absolutely delicious… But unfortunately I can’t eat any type of cheese or other dairy products.
Do you have any substitution ideas that might help me achieve an outcome that’s as close as possible to the real recipe?
Thanks 🙂
katescarlata
Lauren, could you try daiya cheese? Non-dairy–well tolerated by my clients. Check ingredients–at last check the grated version was okay. Not sure the slices are…would need to re-visit. Daiya is sold at Whole Foods. Melts like cheese. Then just delete parmesan cheese–perhaps salt and pepper eggplant.
Lauren
Thanks very much, Kate! That’s a great idea — will definitely try it 🙂
kate
Is Daiya safe for those on a low fodmap diet?
katescarlata
Daiya has many products and some of the ingredients have not been tested for FODMAPs…but that being said, I have had a few clients try it with very good tolerance. This is the mozzarella shreds ingredients: Filtered water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, non-GMO expeller pressed canola and /or non-GMO expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, vegan natural flavors, inactive yeast, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, citric acid (for flavor), titanium dioxide (a naturally occurring mineral). So…the pea protein could be an issue, the vegetable glycerin could be an issue and the natural flavors. I think it’s worth a try –my opinion– but can’t answer definitively that it is perfectly low FODMAP.
Sanne
Hi Kate,
looks like a delicious recipe, will try it soon! But I thought I read once, but this info may be otudated, that during fodmap elimination phase it is only allowed to eat red bell peppers, but is it also ok to eat yellow bell peppers as well?
And I had another question about the use of seeds and nuts. I usually eat yogurt or overnight oats in the morning, with flax and/or chia seeds and nuts. When I use a table spoon of chia seeds in my breakfast is it then also allowed to put a table spoon of flax seeds in my yogurt or oats and then ten nuts, or is it best to either use the chia seeds or the flax seeds but not both due to fodmap content? Thanks very much for your help and info, your blog is really useful!
katescarlata
Sanne–as of now, all bell peppers are allowed on the elimination phase. Keep in mind–the oat ‘cut off’ is 1/4 cup dry oats—for starters. Flax seeds have not been tested alone for FODMAP content to my knowledge and I speculate they will be allowed but in a smaller cut off portion to chia seeds. (chia cut off is 2 TB) Most nuts should be limited to 2 TB (less for almonds and hazelnuts) but if you are going to have chia with the oats–I would do 1 TB of nuts (walnuts, pecans, macadamia or peanuts) and 1 TB chia –make sense?
Sanne
Hi Kate,
thanks for your reply. Did not know about the cut-off amount for oats. I measures 1/4 cup dry oats and weighed it and it was around 20 to 25 gram, so it’s quite a small portion. I used to eat around 35 gram, but will reduce my amount of oats. Is there also a cut off amount for lactose-free yogurt? And I saw this really nice recipe on your blog of carrot pancakes made of oat flour. Is it ok to make these during the elimination phase or is the amount of oat flour above the cut off amount?
Sorry for all my questions and to bother you again, but currently you are my most reliable source on my FODMAP diet and your blog is a great help to me and a great resource for nice and delicious fodmap-friendly recipes. Made the parm crusted roasted eggplant this weekend and it tasted really good! Thanks again for your help!
katescarlata
Sanne-the carrot cake pancake recipe makes quite a few and yes, I do believe it would be okay to enjoy on the elimination phase-I think you’ll be okay if you eat a couple of them…and freeze the rest for later. Another option would be to sub in some brown rice flour for the oat flour–such as 1/3 cup brown rice and 2/3 cup oat flour. As for lactose free yogurt–I would keep it at 8 ounces–though it should be well tolerated and absorbed. So…glad you enjoyed the roasted eggplant!
Andrea
This was one of the best low fodmap recipes I have made since going on the diet. The only change I made was using chives instead of cilantro. I hate cilantro I think it tastes like soap.
Any thoughts on a fruit or some heat to add to the salsa?
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Well Balanced - Food - Life - Travel
Glad you liked it Andrea. You could try 1/2 cup diced kiwifruit or strawberries to the salsa if you wanted. Texas Pete’s original buffalo sauce would be okay to give the salsa a kick or small amount red chili pepper. I have a strawberry salsa recipe here you might want to try –not necessarily with this recipe but as an alternative salsa recipe. (of course, skip the cilantro in the recipe since you are not a fan) http://blog.katescarlata.com/fodmaps/sweet-strawberry-salsa-fodmaps-friendly/