On my rest day I always challenge myself to make a nice dinner for my family. I’m home. I have time to catch up and I wanted to use up some tofu that I had on hand along with some leftover herbs. We will be away all weekend, so with that I’m trying to use up everything that I can before anything spoils.
I’m not a big eggplant fan but I knew I needed something more substantial to try this recipe out with along with some larger zucchini. Thankfully my husband loves eggplant so I knew I was covered. This recipe is really easy and super-protein packed. The freshness from the herbs screams spring, which after this winter – is a welcome bonus. You can definitely adjust the flavoring of the filling to your taste. I hope you enjoy this dinner as much as we did.
Ingredients:
1 firm block of tofu (pressed for at least 1 hour – directions below)
1 small eggplant
1 medium zucchini
Filling:
3 lemons, juiced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1 handful of fresh basil
1 handful of fresh parsley
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
Red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 35o degrees and line your baking sheet with a Silpat or baking liner.
To remove the water from your block of tofu:: remove from the container and drain the water. Wrap in a clean towel and place on a plate. Place a heavy cast-iron skillet on top of the towel. Let that sit for one hour. Gravity will press the excess water out of the tofu and soak the towel.
On your mandoline – using the hand guide to protect yourself, slice your eggplant and zucchini on the blue or 1/8th inch setting. Set those aside.
Into your Vitamix or high powered blender add your filling ingredients. Blend until creamy. You may need to use the plunger to push the ingredients down. You also may need to scrape the sides down. If you need it creamier, add a tablespoon of water. The consistency should be like a whipped hummus.
Consistency is light and airy but spreadable. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Add red pepper flakes for extra heat.
Lay your eggplant or zucchini on your baking sheet. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and then spread the creamy mixture on the vegetables. Then roll up.
I added extra parsley and basil (chopped) before rolling. Into your baking dish, add about a 1/4 inch or so of your favorite marinara sauce. You can use canned or fresh. Here’s my recipe. Place your roll-ups into the sauce. I laid the eggplant flat and the zucchini upright because they were smaller.
You can either refrigerate until you need to bake or bake-off straight away. I baked at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or until bubbly and hot. I placed some sauce in the bottom of the plate and then added some rolls on top. Sprinkled with fresh pepper and red pepper flakes. Serve immediately.
Finally a departure from all of the Indian recipes I’ve been creating. Back to my Italian roots. Enjoy!
Wow this week has been CRAZY!! I managed to do more miles than I did all of last week in 4 days. What the what?! So here’s a wrap up of my week thus far…
Sunday: 15.2 outdoor miles
Monday: 13.4 outdoor miles
Tuesday: 15 treadmill miles (progressive run with each mile being faster than the last)
Wednesday: Rest day.
Thursday: 27 miles – which is my longest training run ever! 🙂
And that’s a wrap until tomorrow’s run 🙂
— Knead to Cook
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