Sometimes I forget that vegan cooking can be quite simple.  This eggplant dish is a great lazy meal since it only takes a few minutes to prep.  The rest of the cooking time is baking in the oven so you can set it and forget it.

Did you know that there are 14 varieties of eggplants?  Here, I used the most common one found in American grocery stores – the American or Globe eggplant with its bulbous, pear shape.  If you’d like to create this dish with better presentation, try substituting with the Japanese eggplant with its long and thin shape, cutting in half lengthwise.  You can also garnish with fresh green onions or chilies.

Recipe after the jump 🙂

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 1 large American (globe) eggplant or 3 Japanese eggplants
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• juice of 1/2 small orange
• zest of 1 small orange
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 1 teaspoon white miso paste
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil or spray

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

If you’re using the American eggplant, cut the cap off, cut in half, then cut each half into 8 spears like cutting a pizza or pie.  If you’re using Japanese or Chinese eggplant, cut lengthwise with the cap on.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the soy sauce, orange juice, orange zest, agave nectar, water, miso paste, vinegar, and green onions.  Leave some fresh green onions aside to garnish later.  The miso paste needs to be blended with the other ingredients for a glaze.

The eggplant gets a bit sticky and tough to remove from the baking pan. Generously brush or spay cooking oil onto each eggplant piece.

Place the eggplant into a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes.  Flip, add the glaze and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

This is a great recipe for a BBQ.  Simply grill the eggplant instead of baking and add the glaze after removing the vegetable from the grill.

Cooking Brown Rice:

I had this eggplant dish with a side of coconut flavored long grain brown rice.  Tip for making brown rice fluffy: soak the grains in water for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

If you don’t have a rice cooker, cook rice in a medium-sized pot with 1 inch of water covering the rice.  Bring the water to a boil first then simmer.  Cooking time is about 20 minutes.

You can drain out the excess water like you would with pasta.  Mix in 1/2 teaspoon of extra virgin coconut oil for every 1 cup of cooked rice.