Japanese Eggplant Casserole

This is another recipe made up with whatever ingredients happened to be in my fridge on a given day!  I love eggplant so I usually have some on hand. I happened to have some Japanese eggplant and I knew I wanted to grill it. I decided to marinated it overnight in a pre-made italian dressing. Japanese eggplant is sweeter and has a softer exterior than the western variety with a pretty light purple color. I think it may have a lower water content as well so it soaked up the flavors from dressing very nicely! I grilled it on the stove top after marinating and made a casserole with some fresh green beans, yukon gold potatoes, caramelized onions and chopped colorful tomatoes. Topped off with gruyere cheese and paprika, it was impossible for this casserole to not be delicious!  It was one of the tastiest dishes I have made! Marinating the eggplant overnight really helped with the extra flavor that might be missing from other eggplant dishes. A great dish for any occasion!

Ingredients

2 medium Japanese Eggplants

 Italian dressing

2 Yukon Gold Potatoes

1.5 pounds of fresh green beans

1 pint of small tomatoes, chopped

1 caramelized onion

1-2 Cups shredded Gruyere cheese

Paprika

Sat & Pepper to taste

Canola & olive oils

Instructions

Slice eggplant and marinate overnight. I used italian dressing, but you can experiment with different marinades. Use 1 tablespoon of canola to grill eggplant on medium heat until lightly brown on both sides (about 3 minutes per side). Set aside. 

Use 1-2 tablespoons of canola oil to grill the potato slices until brown on both sides. Cut ends off green beans and cut each in half. Sautee in 1/2 tablespoon of canola oil until tender. Set potatoes and green beans aside. 

Mix chopped tomatoes and caramelized onions together and spread the mixture evenly on the bottom of a casserole dish (I used a 13x9 dish). Add green beans, eggplant slices, potato slices, followed by cheese, a sprinkle of paprika and a little olive oil (~1/2 teaspoon). Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is golden brown and casserole is bubbly around the edges.

Enjoy!