Vegan Grilled Eggplant Sandwich
Just like grandma used to make, my grilled eggplant sandwich is marinated then grilled, topped with tofu feta cheese, pickled onions, tomatoes, Romaine lettuce, and drizzled with a lemony tahini sauce.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 475kcal
Ingredients
Eggplant
- 1 large eggplant slice into equal-sized ½ inch slices
- Generous amounts of salt for eggplant to remove the bitter taste and remove excess water
Eggplant Marinate
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Vegetables
- 1 large hot house tomato cut into cubes
- ½ cup pickled red onions or raw red onions
- ½ cup tofu feta cheese
- ½ head romaine lettuce chopped
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
Tahini Dressing
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste
- ½ cup well-stirred tahini Middle Eastern sesame paste
- ⅔ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
Other Ingredients
- 4 whole grain hoagie buns
- ½ recipe Tofu Feta Cheese optional
Instructions
Eggplant
- Slice eggplant into ½ inch slices (I used a Mandoline)
- Lay slices on a cookie sheet and generously salt; set aside
- After 30 minutes, flip slices over and salt again; set aside
- Then, rinse all salt off the eggplant and place it on paper towels to dry
- Combine marinade ingredients
- Lay eggplant back on cookie sheet; pour marinade over the top and cover
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
Tahini Dressing or Substitute Hummus
- In a one-cup blender, add all ingredients and blend until smooth.
- TIP: Add tahini last to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the blender
How to Prepare the Vegetables
- Cut tomatoes and lettuce; set aside
- If using raw red onions, cut into slivers or drain pickled red onions and place on a paper towel to dry.
Grilling Eggplant
- Pre-heat grill to low.
- Place eggplant slices directly on the grill.
- Cook 4 minutes on each side; set aside.
Baking Eggplant
- Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Follow the directions for salting, rinsing, and marinating.
- Arrange the eggplant and single layer on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Roast the eggplant in the oven for 10 minutes.
Skillet Eggplant
- Cut, salt, rinse, and marinate the eggplant slices.
- Place the sliced eggplant slices in a large skillet on medium heat.
- Working in batches, add the eggplant slices in a single layer.
- Saute the eggplant on each side for 3-5 minutes until soft, browned, and caramelized.
Air Frying Eggplant
- Preheat the air fryer to 370°F.
- Again, cut, salt, rinse, and marinate the eggplant slices.
- Place a single layer of eggplant in the air fryer and air fry for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown, flipping halfway through cooking.
- Work in batches if necessary.
Preparing the Sandwich
- Turn the oven on broil on low
- Place hoagie buns slightly open and place them on a baking sheet
- Broil for 3 minutes until lightly toasted.
- Remove from the oven and place grilled eggplant into the center of the bun; add a small about of tofu feta cheese.
- Return to the oven for 2 minutes to heat slightly.
- Remove from the oven and add lettuce, tomato, onions, parsley, and top with tahini sauce.
- For a lower-fat option, skip the tahini and use oil-free hummus instead.
- Roll like a burrito, pulling both sides in and rolling tightly.
- I served with steak fries.
Notes
- For a lower-fat sauce option, substitute tahini with the oil-free hummus of choice.
- Salting the eggplant helps to remove extra moisture. But don't worry about the sodium content; the salt is rinsed off before marinating and cooking the eggplant.
- If you don't like eggplant, use the exact same recipe using zucchini.
- Portobello mushrooms are also great with this marinade, but skip the salting step because the mushrooms do not need to be salted like the eggplant or zucchini.
- If you want to eat less bread, try removing the inside of each side of the bun, being careful not to break through the crusty part. This reduces bread and creates a well to hold all the ingredients.
- A great way to have fresh lemon juice all year round is to juice lemons while in season and freeze them in ice cube trays for dressings and sauces.
Nutrition
Calories: 475kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 532mg | Potassium: 808mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 7459IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 132mg | Iron: 14mg