Steph's Food Intolerance Cooking: Slow Cooker Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant parmesan is one of my favorite meals. It is filling but also doesn't contain meat. I am not a fan of eating a lot of meat so when I can sneak in those meals for my family during the week, I definitly do just that. This version of eggplant parmesean is pretty easy and quick. I don't precook anything. Most recipes require you to bread your eggplant and fry it and then you put it in the slow cooker. And by the way, this recipe sneaks in vegetables so your children won't even know that they are eating spinach,carrots and mushrooms. Excellent!

Ingredients:

Medium eggplant

8 ounces thinly sliced mozzarella (I used low moisture part skim mozzarella)
*if you prefer vegan mozzarella, we use Trader Joes Vegan Cheese and leave out the parmesan cheese.

1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

1 medium cubed carrot (doesn't have to be diced; we are blending it)

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

1 cup fresh baby spinach

1 tbsp flax seed

1/2 medium onion, cubed or a whole small onion cubed

16 oz can diced tomatoes

16 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 cup brown rice flour

2 slices of old gluten free bread or 1 gluten free sandwich roll

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoon parsley

Sea salt to taste

Cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rub coconut oil along the inside of the slow cooker

2. Combine in blender (I use a Magic Bullet, it takes up less counter space).; carrots, mushrooms, spinach, onion, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano and parsley. Blend. Taste and season with salt and pepper as you like. Blend again.

3. In a food processor or blender; combine brown rice flour, bread and flax seed. Blend until it is ground finely like store bought bread crumbs.

4. Thinly slice your eggplant. I do not soak my eggplant beforehand but if you would like here are directions to do so. Once eggplant is sliced, put slices in colander over a bowl and add decent amount of salt. Let sit for 30 minutes. No frying; these slices are not breaded and fried like traditional eggplant parmesan. It saves on time and is healthier for you.