Roasted eggplant is one of my favorite foods since childhood. Here is how to make delicious roasted eggplant (I included it in this pizza, but it was so good I ate most of the roasted eggplant on its own 😛 )

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant (1/3 inch in rounds or or 1 inch cubes)
• Olive oil spray (or 4 tablespoons of regular olive oil)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: salt

Instructions:

1. Optional for eggplant rounds: salt each eggplant round and let soak for 30 min. Dry with paper towel to remove moisture (supposedly this removes bitterness from the eggplant, but when I’ve skipped this step the eggplant still tasted great)
2. Heat oven to 400 degrees F
3. If using rounds: Brush each side with olive oil (or use olive oil spray). Heat on each side until lightly brown (around 6-8 min each side)
4. If making cubed roasted eggplants: Place in bowl and stir to coat with olive oil and salt. Heat for 20 minutes, flip eggplant and put back in the oven until golden (approximately 10 more minutes).

Note:

I used eggplant rounds to make pizza with Trader Joes Cauliflower Pizza Crust (which is surprisingly delicious!)  I cooked the pizza crust according to the box directions, topped with homemade tomato sauce, the roasted eggplant in this recipe, Organic Girl Protein Greens, and freshly sliced mozzarella.

Eggplant cubes I’ve used as a topping for hummus