Thursday, March 1, 2012

Eggplant and Lentils with Almond Parmesan

Hello all my beautiful kind angels!!! 


This week has been interesting... I started out fabulous, waking up at 6am every morning and going for a 45 minute power walk. Coming home and having a fabulous protein smoothie (NOTE: I don't add protein powder) I just use fresh almond milk and goji's (those babies contain all your essential amino acids plus more, making it a complete protein)!! yum yum!! I will pop my recipe up asap, it's so simple and deeeelicious, Tommy absolutely FROTHS over it every morning... I then have a yummy Raw muesli with fresh home-made Almond Milk!! Yummm!!! Off to uni and I would then have a green smoothie mid morning (or whenever I was hungry again) and a salad a couple of hours later. Then I'd go to pilates or yoga or another class. Then something delicious for dinner. Fitting study in where ever possible of course... THEN, yesterday PMS hit... I know, I'm sorry, a little too much info for some people, but I'm a very honest, open person so get used to it :) So anyway.. ALLLLL my hard work and healthy eating went OUT the window when I decided I couldn't control my craving anymore and went to the supermarket at about 8pm and bought some chocolate soy ice cream, and had two bowls last night AND FOUR bowls today!!!!!!!!! I honestly want to neck myself!! I feel soooo sick!!! I do not eat cane or any sort of refined sugar, so I had the worst headache from it and just felt disgusting.... So not worth the craving, but when you've got one at this time of the month, you usually can't do much to stop it unless you give it what it wants, don't you agree?? Now I don't often eat dessert so I don't keep ice cream in my freezer, BUT if I ever have it, I have Raw ice cream... Cane sugar free, soy free etc... but of course, the shop that sells it wasn't open at 8pm on a Wednesday and I needed something! Long story short, I'm back onto 100% Raw food tomorrow after this little binge. It's incredible to notice how my body felt and rejected crappy food!! From now on, I'm going to make sure I'm pre-prepared with decadently delicious raw desserts for this little monthly cravings!! :)


Ok, now that my little vent is over, I can get on with it... Tonight I decided to make a nice hot meal and chose pasta because, lets face it, I'm having cravings for a reason.... lol, but you could also have it with rice, any other whole grain or on its own.








Eggplant and Lentils with Almond Parmesan


1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large eggplant, cut into quarters lengthwise and sliced into 1/4-inch wedges
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 can lentils, rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils)
ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon hot smoked paprika or cayenne pepper, optional
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup unsweetened non-dairy yogurt (I used coconut yoghurt)
1 cup fresh basil, minced
Almond Parmesan - See below
Saute the onion in a large, non-stick skillet until it begins to brown. Tip: Add a small pinch of baking soda to speed up browning. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.


Add the eggplant, water, and herbs and stir well to coat the eggplant with the seasonings. Cover tightly and cook until the eggplant begins to soften, about 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT the fresh basil and Almond Parmesan. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, until eggplant is tender and sauce has thickened. Season to taste with salt, add fresh basil, and serve over pasta (I used multi grain and quinoa) or brown rice or other whole grain. Top with Almond Parmesan, if desired.




Almond Parmesan
To make Almond Parmesan, process 1/4 cup nutritional yeast and 1/3 cup whole raw almonds in a blender or food processor until crumbly. Store in refrigerator.


Servings: 4



Nutritional Facts


Nutrition (per serving,
 without Almond Parmesan): 158 calories, 11 calories from fat, 1.3g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 87.8mg sodium, 859.2mg potassium, 31g carbohydrates, 12.5g fiber, 6.2g sugar, 9.6g protein, 4.9 points.









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