Stuffed Eggplant Rolls

My husband thinks it's hysterical that I exercise while watching The Food Channel. Actually, watching the cooking shows on television makes me think. I need to focus on something while I'm exercising, otherwise the exercise gets totally boring. If I can't find a decent TV program to watch, then I'll watch whatever cooking show happens to be on The Food Channel. And watching cooking shows while exercising makes you not want to eat too much, because the more you eat, the more you'll need to exercise.

One of the chefs this week was making a stuffed eggplant dish. It looked very good, but he was stuffing it with four kinds of cheese.... major calories, major fat. Not something I'd want to be cooking, much less eating. However, I do like eggplant.

So I got to thinking..... what could I use to stuff the eggplant that would make it less fattening but just as delicious. Maybe it's the Greek music I listen to in the breakfast room, but spinach and feta cheese came to mind. (This recipe calls for tomato sauce, so you'll need a few cups of that. I had sauce in the fridge, leftover from meatballs & sauce I made the other day.)

When I went to the supermarket this week, I found a decent-sized eggplant... small enough to make a meal but not big enough to feed the neighborhood. You've got to be careful of those large eggplants... the bigger they are, the more seeds they have. And the seeds aren't my favorite part of that vegetable.

Anyway..... back to the eggplant. I washed the outside and cut off the top and the bottom. Then you leave the skin on, and slice it lengthwise into quarter-inch slices. I arranged those on a foil-lined cookie sheet that I sprayed with a non-stick spray. Perfect... that one eggplant fit on just the one cookie sheet.

I had a jar of marinated artichoke hearts in the fridge, so I used some of the marinade from those to brush both sides of the eggplant slices. Then I sprinkled the slices with parsley flakes. Into the oven... hot oven, 375 degrees, for about 15 - 20 minutes. Then I flipped them over, and let them bake for another five minutes or so. (The slices should be soft and browned, but not crispy, because you need to roll them up.)

For the filling, while the eggplant slices were baking: I defrosted (in the microwave) one package of frozen chopped spinach. Into that, I added about 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese (I buy the feta that's already seasoned with sun-dried tomatoes and herbs). Then I chopped up about half a cup of the marinated artichoke hearts and added those into the spinach/cheese mixture. Then I added a beaten egg, just to hold that all together. Perfect.

When the eggplant slices were done, I let them cool just enough so I could handle them. I used a tablespoon of the spinach mixture for each of the eggplant slices--- a spoonful at one end of each slice, then you roll it up. Put the rolls into a baking pan--- put a little bit of tomato sauce in the bottom of the pan so the eggplant rolls are sitting on top of the sauce. When all the eggplant rolls are in the pan, just add a little more sauce on the top of each roll..... not too much... you don't want them swimming. (It would be helpful to use a baking pan just big enough to hold the rolls tightly, so they don't have a chance to un-roll while cooking.) You bake these for 25 minutes, at 350 degrees. Which I didn't do yet...... I'll bake them tonight for dinner. I'm sure they'll be delicious. How can you go wrong when you mix spinach & feta while Greek music is playing?

I had some of the spinach/cheese/artichoke mixture left over. -- You don't want to put too much into the rolls because you won't be able to roll them up. With the leftover mixture, I plan to use another recipe from one of the cooking shows. -- You take a can of Pillsbury crescent rolls (the low-fat ones, of course).... unwrap each of the triangles, spoon a little of the spinach mixture on the dough, then roll it up like you usually would, to form the crescent roll. That should be delicious also...... maybe I'll do those tomorrow for lunch.

That crescent roll dough can be used for anything, according to the woman on that cooking show. Fruit jam, cheese, chicken or tuna salad, just about anything that won't run all over the pan as the rolls are baking, I guess. Those crescent rolls would be great for one of our parties, stuffed with spinach and cheese. I'll have to try that for our next Charades party.

Anyway..... dinner is all set to go into the oven later. Today is a glorious day..... lots of sun and blue sky...... flowers blooming everywhere and the air is so warm that you can smell the sweetness of the blooms. Gorgeous day.