Grilled Eggplant Stacks

Photo Credit: Health is Wealth Photos.

Ingredients:

• 1 large unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1-inch slices
• 1 cup tomato sauce (use pizza or marinara sauce if you like)
• 1 cup shredded or sliced low-fat mozzarella cheese (provolone may be substituted)
• Toppings: use fresh spinach, kale, mushrooms, tomatoes or green pepper.  Let your imagination and palate be your guide!

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Press each slice of eggplant with paper towels to remove the excess moisture. Put the slices on a baking sheet and drizzle them with a tiny bit of olive oil.
• Bake for 10 minutes or until they are crisp on one side.
• Turn each piece over, drizzle them again with a tiny bit of olive oil, bake the slices another 5-8 minutes.
• Top each slice with a little tomato sauce, then begin stacking your choices of toppings, finally add the cheese.
• Bake another 5-10 minutes until the cheese has melted. Enjoy!

I find that it works best to layer the toppings underneath the cheese so that the stacks maintain their form when served.  Layer above the tomato sauce and then top with the cheese. 

You can grill the eggplant rounds up to a day in advance.  Assemble the eggplant, tomato and mozzarella stacks at the last minute. In order to make the eggplant and tomato stacks look symmetrical, select eggplants and tomatoes that have roughly the same diameter.