This easy baked eggplant casserole is a great idea for dinner. Known as “Imam Bayerdi” in Turkey, thinly sliced eggplants are mixed with canned diced tomatoes, yellow onions, garlic and herbs for a lasagna. Made using a combination stovetop and oven, it’s a deliciously easy, delicious meal that’s also vegan, paleo, gluten-free and dairy-free.
I often talk about adding healthy fats to your meals my recipe. Fat has long had a bad reputation in the health world. It’s not hard to see why, as its own name has become synonymous with muffin tops and anklets. But this Turkish Eggplant Casserole recipe proves why olive oil makes the world go round.
When I grow up Fried Eggs in Olive Oil and philosophy an avocado a day Keeping the doctor away, I’m glad people are finally putting down fat-free SnackWells cookies and starting to re-evaluate their health choices based on different barometers.
Despite these advances, I continue to receive criticism for adding the word “healthy” to my recipes while adding a few tablespoons of butter. I still have to adjust the amount of oil used when developing recipes for fitness magazines like SELF, which live and die depending on the grams of fat reported on the nutrition calculator.
Because I believe in real, unprocessed food, even if it contains pure fat, it’s hard not to feel like a hypocrite when I hand in a recipe for a cheesecake with low-fat sour cream and no-fat cream cheese, and Just a tbsp (if I’m lucky) butter in a paltry gluten free crust. But without these jobs, mom can’t afford her own olive oil budget, and sometimes you have to bite your fat tongue to please customers.
Why is Imam bayildi healthy?
This Turkish Eggplant Casserole has all the flavors of a heavy lasagna or eggplant parmesan, but is completely devoid of flour and cheese, making it gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo and vegan – many bases difficult to cover in one plate!But what makes this vegetarian main course Particularly wholesome and firmly in line with Mediterranean dietary traditions – all heart-healthy olive oil.
If you haven’t noticed by now, or got the picture above, I consider fat to be an essential nutrient and I actively add it to my diet in healthy amounts and in multiple forms. Like any food, the benefit of too much is that, for lack of more technical nutritional terms, bad. so I do try to change my oil daily, usually between olives, coconut, sunflower, flaxseedand rape.
but olive oil will always have my heart. Growing up, my mom had at least 5 large bottles of it on hand, and I would watch her blow them off in a few weeks.there is a story my book Regarding the way she spoon-feeds herself frozen peas, in such a deep olive oil bath, from far away, you’d think she was drinking soup. Despite these dubious habits, my mother remains to this day the most health-conscious woman I know. If her pre-millennial love for Xiaomi was any indication, she was always a decade ahead of trends.
Like many eggplant recipes, if there’s one fad that fits my mother’s lifelong love of olive oil, it’s the “Mediterranean diet” – aka the way Greeks, Turks and Sicilians are forever known. When I’m exploring new cuisines, I like to generally ask the “sauce” side in restaurants to see what they bring. When I do this in Greece, I get a sauce boat with pure chartreuse olive oil. I am very satisfied with this result.
One of my favorite dishes when I travel to Greece is myMama Bayerdi from Hydra’s Tavern. Fried eggplant casserole is technically a Turkish dish, but I see it on many menus in Greece. It’s roasted with tomatoes, garlic and herbs and served on a lasagna-like sheet at room temperature.
A simple and delicious slice that makes you almost forget your old friends on the other side of the Aegean Sea, Eggplant Parmesan. As far as the eggplant dinner idea goes, her influence sucks anyway.
On the axis of food evil, there are worse dishes than a plate of eggplant, olive oil, and tomatoes.So for those who would rather eat fat than inject it into their face, here’s a delicious (and healthy!!!) method of infusing olive oil with the vegetable side.
Many people with low FODMAPs are looking for Eggplant Recipes, as it is one of the few vegetables that are not restricted. For people with low FODMAPs, this eggplant casserole recipe can easily be adapted by omitting the garlic and onion.For more low FODMAP recipes, check out my new book SIBO made easy. and click here The Best Grilled Eggplant Recipe.
More Eggplant Dinner Ideas:
Read on to learn how to make this delicious, all-time favorite Eggplant Recipe for Feed Me Phoebe!
With health and hedonism,
Phoebe
Turkish Eggplant Dinner Casserole (Imam Bayerdi)
This easy baked eggplant casserole is a great idea for dinner. Known as “Imam Bayerdi” in Turkey, thinly sliced eggplants are mixed with canned diced tomatoes, yellow onions, garlic and herbs for a lasagna.Made using a combination stovetop and oven, it’s a deliciously easy, delicious meal that’s also vegan, paleo, gluten-free and dairy-free.
serving size 6
instruct
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Sprinkle a pinch of salt on the eggplant slices and let stand for 20 minutes. Pat the slices dry and set aside.
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Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large oven (preferably cast iron) skillet. Fry the eggplants in batches over medium heat until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add more oil as needed between batches so the eggplant doesn’t burn, but try not to use too heavy a hand – the pan just needs to be greased. Remove the eggplants to a plate.
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Add the onions to the skillet and sauté over medium heat until softened, 5 minutes. Add garlic, chili flakes, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and cinnamon. Cook for another minute, until fragrant. Carefully pour in tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in half of the parsley.
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If using a heatproof skillet, pour 3/4 of the sauce into a bowl, leaving a thin layer.Otherwise, add 1/4 cup sauce to the bottom of an 8×8 or similar casserole. Spread eggplant in an even layer on bottom of pan or plate. Spread a layer of sauce and repeat with the remaining eggplant and sauce – just like you would make a lasagna.
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Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until the eggplants are tender and the sauce has reduced. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting in. Garnish with remaining parsley and serve hot or at room temperature.
notes
Nutrition
Serve: 4G
If you make this, tag @phoebelapine and #feedmephoebe – I’d love to see it!Need help finding lasting lifestyle changes? Let’s work together to find a way forward.mine 4 Week Wellness Course Might just change your life.
