Eggplant on the Panini

The last time we visited our daughter who is away at college, we had lunch with her at a little italian restaurant and ordered pizza without cheese or meat.  They said it was their first time making a pizza like that but I was impressed with how good and different it was.  They put thin slices of eggplant on it which added a nice creamy texture to the crispy crust.  Delicious!
It inspired me to make panini sandwiches last weekend using eggplant, mushrooms and non-dairy cheese made from rice milk.  This sandwich is not fat free mostly because of the cheese, but sometimes a grilled cheese sandwich with a healthier twist than the typical western style diet version is comforting.  We had steamed kale with walnut dressing on the side topped it with the remaining eggplant slices.  The photos didn't turn out great but I will share some of them anyway.

Eggplant grilled without oil

Mushrooms browned in skillet without oil

Kale, lightly steamed in non-stick skillet with lid and 1/4 cup water

Grilled cheese sandwich with mushrooms and eggplant 

Eggplant Appetizer

Recipe for eggplant panini sandwich:

1 small eggplant, rinsed and thinly sliced, a little over 1/8" worked well
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
4 cups kale, rinsed with midrib removed and torn into bite sized pieces
Whole grain sandwich bread, two slices per sandwich
Toffuti non-dairy creamed cheese spread
Non-dairy rice-cheese slices
Bragg 24 herb seasoning mix
Garlic powder

Grill or saute the slices of eggplant with a dash of garlic powder and Bragg seasoning until tender and golden brown.  Set aside.
Grill or saute the sliced mushrooms with a dash of garlic powder and Bragg seasoning until tender and golden brown.  Set aside.
Steam the kale for just a minute or two--it should be soft but a nice bright green color.

Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on one side of each slice of bread, place cooked mushrooms and eggplant, kale and a slice of rice-cheese on one side and put the other slice of bread over all to make a sandwich.  Grill on a panini press or in a medium hot skillet with a weight.

For each eggplant appetizer you will need:

1 slice of eggplant spread with non-dairy cream cheese
1 piece of steamed kale

Roll up and serve (you might need toothpicks to keep them rolled if you are preparing a lot of them).