Dinner in a Flash: Eggplant Rolls

I was out ALL day today, running errands, picking my son up from his "half day" and then running more errands with him (actually FOR him, he needs clothes for a Bar Mitzvah this weekend!). That said, I didn't prep (or even plan) dinner. I realize that throwing a pot of water on the stove for pasta would have been the easiest, but I already did that this week. I needed to be a bit more creative while cleaning out my refrigerator. Voila, eggplant rolls. You can make this on your busiest nights too - I stuffed my rolls with bell peppers, tomato, cheddar, and a little "spiked" cream cheese, but you can use ricotta, mozzarella and pesto and add any vegetable you want (onions, spinach, roasted red peppers, etc.). The trick is "softening" the eggplant first - on a hot grill pan or griddle. Once they're slightly charred, they have more flavor and roll up with ease.

Eggplant Rolls with Bell Peppers and Cheddar

Cooking spray
2 medium eggplant, cut from top to bottom into 1/2-inch thick slices
Salt and ground black pepper
8 ounces vegetable cream cheese or plain cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 Roma tomato, diced 
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, or more to taste
Cilantro, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a shallow baking pan with cooking spray.
Coat a stove-top grill pan or griddle with cooking spray and preheat to medium-high. Season eggplant slices with salt and pepper and add the slices to the hot pan (work in batches if necessary to prevent overlapping). Grill 2 minutes per side, until golden brown.
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, oregano and cumin. Mix well. Spread the mixture onto each eggplant slice. Top the cream cheese with bell pepper, tomato and a little cheddar cheese. Roll up and place side-by-side in the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over top. Cover with foil and bake 10 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes, until the cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro if desired.

Serves 4-6




Apolonia