Baked Eggplant Tower with Balsamic

So I decided to buy eggplant and try cooking with it as I have never attempted a dish that has eggplant in it. The eggplant sat in my fridge for a week. I had no inspiration or motivation to eat the eggplant. Even though I looked up eggplant recipes they all seemed blah. Eventually I came across eggplant towers and that sparked some interest. One thing lead to another and here we are, my version of a baked eggplant tower with balsamic.

This dish is also called eggplant stacks. Eggplant towers are very easy to put together, basically anything that I can stack it with, and that I have in my house I put it together. You just have to use your creativity and make sure the flavors somewhat go together.

Does eggplant taste like zucchini?

Eggplants have a very mild and bland flavor. They basically taste like nothing, also very similar to zucchini. The good thing about these vegetables is that they soak up any flavor you add to them. Almost like a sponge, so take that blank canvas and add flavor.

I added cooked sweet potato coins, whipped feta and caramelized lemon to my eggplant tower. I also topped the eggplant stacks with a cherry tomato and balsamic salsa. All the combinations of sweet, salty, sour and bitter.

Other flavors that go with this eggplant tower

• Cheese (goat cheese, ricotta, mozzarella)
• Garlic, Onions
• Parsley, Basil, Cilantro
• Tomato Sauce

Other eggplant stack recipe ideas

• baked eggplant + basil + mozzarella + tomato sauce
• baked eggplant + ricotta cheese + fresh tomato + chili oil
• fried eggplant + Parmesan crisps + onions + garlic
• roasted eggplant + ground beef + tomato sauce + mozzarella

You can add this eggplant tower side dish to my, Maple Mustard Pork Recipe or Chicken and Sausage Orzo Pasta

Here is more Easy Eggplant Recipes at the food network.

When assembling dishes like this, even though it is a basic assembly job the right tools make a big difference. I used kitchen tweezers from amazon. These tweezers are a little chefy, but definitely makes the job easier.

Print Recipe

Baked Eggplant Tower with Balsamic

A vegetarian side dish used for almost any main. Finally something worth doing with the eggplant.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Mediterranean

Keyword: baked eggplant, eggplant stack, eggplant tower

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• 1 sweet potato
• ¼ cup feta
• 2 tbsp greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 cup cherry tomato
• 1 shallot diced
• 2-4 lemon slices (½" thick)
• 1 tsp sugar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp pickled mini cherry peppers

Instructions

Cherry Tomato Balsamic Salsa

• Cut tomato's into smaller pieces and add to diced shallots, cherry peppers, olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and place in fridge.

Whipped Feta

• Mix feta, yogurt, chili flakes and capers till fully incorporated. Place in fridge

Sweet Potato Coins

• Slice ½" thick, season with salt and pepper, add olive oil and roast in oven at 400F° for about 45 minutes or until cooked. Remove and let cool.

Caramelized Lemon

• Season lemon with salt and sugar. Saute in a pan till nice and caramelized.

Eggplant Tower

• Slice eggplant to ¾" thickness, season with salt and pepper and bake in a 400F° oven for 10 minutes. Your ready to assemble.
• I do, baked eggplant, sweet potato coin, whipped feta, caramelized lemon, eggplant and I top off with the cherry tomato balsamic salsa. I usually assemble it on the plate I am serving on, as it is a little wobbly. Garnish with more balsamic if you would like.