Roasted Eggplant and Tomatoes with Chickpeas

I, along with the fiance, am a big fan of eggplant.  In addition to having a good amount of fiber, minerals and vitamins, it also is incredibly versatile and lends itself particularly well to filling vegetarian dishes.

A nice way to prepare eggplant is to roast it - it can give the flesh a nice creamy texture.  Tonight, I tossed a whole cubed eggplant (unpeeled, but peel if you wish) with two handfuls of quartered grape tomatoes with three tablespoons of olive oil.  After I spread the mixture on a baking sheet, I sprinkled it with 3/4 of a tablespoon of za'atar, and then a few pinches of freshly ground pepper and kosher salt.  I let it roast in a 450 degree oven for about thirty five minutes.

When there was about ten minutes to go, I minced half a bulb of garlic and sauteed it in more olive oil, and stirred in some leftover chickpeas and roughly chopped baby spinach.  I then tossed in the roasted eggplant and tomatoes.  After turning off the heat, I stirred in a generous handful of chopped fresh parsley.

I did add a touch of mozzarella daiya to my first serving, but I also had a second scoopful without the daiya that was also delicious.  And if you prefer real cheese, a smoked mozzarella might be quite nice with this.