Eggplant-Noodle Gratin

The original recipe called for egg noodles, which says right in the name why vegans will want to stay away. The best substitute I found, was wide Chinese lo mein noodles, which are only made of wheat flour and water, but have the same long flat shape as egg noodles. So use those in the recipe below.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 cups coarsely chopped, peeled eggplant, 1 cup chopped yellow onion and 1 cup chopped red bell pepper. Saute for 5 minutes. Add two cups chopped tomato and 3 minced garlic cloves and cook another minute.

Remove from heat and stir in 3 cups cooked lo mein (or other wide flat noodle), 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, one tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 1 teaspoon fresh), 1/4 tsp. salt and a dash of black pepper.

Spoon into an 11x7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle the top with 2/3 cup shredded vegan cheese in place of the provolone that the original recipe called for - if I was at home in New York, I would use the vegan mozzarella block, which shreds really well, but I'm on Martha's Vineyard and the only soy cheese in the supermarket here was sandwich slices of mozzarella from Tofutti. While I was happy to find vegan on the Vineyard (yay!), this variety doesn't really shred or melt as well. Sorry; it's the best I could do!

Each one cup serving is 230 calories.

Cost:
eggplant $1.50
yellow onion $0.85
red bell pepper $1.74
tomato $0.95
noodles $2.29
basil (free from the pot in my mother's patio - gorgeous!)
vegan cheese $3.69