Learning to Vegetate!......... Aubergine, tomato & goat cheese bake

Breath the words 'vegetarian or vegan', especially to a chef, and you may be treated to a roll of the eyes and deep sighs. At best vegetarians / vegans, are viewed as tree hugging, sandal wearing individuals with flowers in their flowing hair, scampering naked through the forest at full moon as they worship mother earth.....at worst, they and their eating habits are viewed as a nuisance and greeted with disdain. 

But sorry to throw rain on your parade of condescension if this is also your opinion, the reality is very far from the truth, for vegetarians and vegans are normal people like you and me...they just have a little bit more of a conscience and are a lot more health savvy!

Many chefs hate to see vegetarians or vegans coming into the dining room because in the world of the chef, meat is still king! and they just aren't geared up (due to laziness mostly) for the vegetarian or vegan customer. A lack of research and ignorance of the 'lifestyle' is generally the cause for such hate filled reactions. But really, there are a myriad of cookery books out there if they could just be bothered to read them! and actually cooking a vegetable based meal is a lot quicker and more cost effective....someone should tell them that!

But putting all ethical and philosophical reasons aside, there is NO DENYING that a move towards a plant based diet will do you nothing but good! In fact, if you believe all the latest research, it could actually save your life! helping you loose weight, regulating your blood sugars and increasing insulin sensitivity thereby able to actually turn the clock back on  Type 2 diabetes diagnoses, improving bowel function, helping to reduce your risk of cancers, and...it's good for the environment!...but shush we don't want anyone from the multi billion euro a year meat industry to hear us as all will be denied and they will vehemently tell you that you cannot live without meat in your diet.

Whether you want to go the whole hog.....pardon the meat reference...and remove meat from your diet altogether is entirely up to you, it is a decision you should make only for your own reasons and beliefs and no one else's, certainly you should not follow the latest fad or the 'fashionable' crowd like a sheep! do your research before you make your decision.

Reducing your meat intake is relatively easy. As I said before, there is a limitless supply of cookbooks, websites and specialist blogs out there with information and ideas on how to change your eating without compromising your health, and a myriad of new products on the market that mirror traditional meat products and after all that well you can still just eat a variety of vegetables, nuts, fruits, seeds and pulses, which all grow naturally....no processing required! If done right, you will be amazed at the variety that will enter your life and how good you will feel for it too.

'Meat free Monday' is becoming quite a thing now and is a good way to ease yourself into a plant based diet, but try extending it to a few other days of the week too, it can only do you good!

So for today's 'Meat'Free Monday' dish, we have a layered vegetable bake with nuggets of goats cheese for that added bit of protein....you can of course substitute vegetarian cheese or tofu in place of the goats cheese if you like. The pesto adds a depth of flavour reminiscent of the Mediterranean, and served up with some couscous or brown rice, you have a wholesome meal fit for a king...a vegetarian one that is!

You will need.......these quantities provide 2 portions

1 medium aubergine

2 beef steak tomatoes

half a white onion

some pesto...which you can make yourself or buy it fresh

100 - 150 g goats cheese

sea salt, black pepper

olive oil

How to........

• slice the onion very thin, heat a little olive oil in a pan and gently cook the onion until soft, remove from the heat and set aside
• slice the aubergine as thin as you can, layer onto a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and black pepper
• gently grill the slices until lightly browned, set aside
• remove the skin from the tomatoes by blanching....find out HERE! how to do that 
• begin to layer up your vegetables.....line the base of a baking dish with slices of aubergine, add some cooked onion, add slices of tomato, press down these layers
• top with some goats cheese nuggets, then drizzle with pesto 
• continue in this manner until all the vegetables are used up making sure you press down each layer
• finish with a layer of goats cheese and a last drizzle of pesto
• bake in a pre-heated oven 160oC for approx 30 minutes 

Serve immediately with some rice or couscous, or allow to cool before refrigerating.

You can enjoy this as a hot dish or have it chilled with a nice salad and some crusty bread on the side.



I have used a small roule of goats cheese for this, but if you can get your hands on the large roule you can enjoy a deeper layer of cheese. To turn it into more of a lasagna, layer pasta sheets between the aubergine and tomato layers and proceed as normal. I don't recommend using dry pasta sheets as they will not be fully cooked by the time the vegetables and cheese are ready, so go for fresh pasta sheets which are in every supermarket now.