Eggplant and Spinach Parmesan

It's yummy and rich and surprisingly tender!  It's a meal you could easily serve your SAD friends. It's seriously tasty and relatively easy!
I revisited this recipe yesterday and posted some new photos. My recipe is adapted from a recipe by iRaw. 



Eggplant and Spinach Parmesan
2 small eggplants, peeled and sliced thin  (I used one white eggplant and one graffiti eggplant. They are small and very tender)

Coating
1/4 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup almonds
dried Italian herbs
sea salt, to taste 

Cheese
1/2  cup cashews
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
1-2 Tbsp lemon juice
onion powder, to taste
1/2 garlic clove, crushed
sea salt, to taste
water to blend

3- 4 cups fresh spinach -chopped
your favorite marinara sauce 

Eggplant Preparation
Soak eggplant slices in salted water for 2-3 hours.

Drain and spread on dehydrator trays and dehydrate for 30 - 45 minutes at 105 degrees. 

Coating
In a food processor blend all ingredients until almost smooth, but don't over process. Keep mixture thick. 

Cheese
In high-speed blender, combine all ingredients and blend until creamy. 



Sauce
Make a batch of your favorite. I used 2 - 3 large tomatoes, 1 clove garlic, Italian herbs, 2 dates (pitted and chopped), 1/2 avocado, 1/4 red bell pepper, olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne, 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, onions, chopped olives.


Greens
Clean and trim stems. Chop into smaller pieces. In a large bowl, drizzle a bit of olive oil  and sea salt onto greens and massage with fingers to soften. (set aside)


Assemble
Lightly oil the bottom of a small glass baking dish.



Arrange slices eggplant in base of dish. Sprinkle and press on some coating mix to each slice with your fingers.

Spread marinara sauce on top. Spread cheese mixture on top of sauce using an offset spatula.



Add a light layer of spinach.

Continue layering in same order, until ingredients are used up. (Top off with THIN layer of cheese mixed in with some of the under layer of marinara, and don't go all the way to the edge - looks like melted cheese on top when done).




Garnish top with a bit of chopped spinach, and some of the coating mixture. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper and oregano.  (You could also use marinated and dehydrated mushroom slices and slivered olives)

Note: Next time, I"ll sprinkle a layer of Sausage on top. YUmmmmm!

Dehydrate for several hours until eggplant is soft.  (I also warmed in oven on LOWEST setting. This makes it just warm to touch, still room temp in middle and able to take dish out of oven with hands).

Super tasty. Serve with spiralized zucchini noodles and some extra marinara sauce. (sprinkle any leftover coating mixture on top.

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