Braised Lebanese Eggplant with Chickpeas - Vegan

This dish was so good that just thinking about it makes my mouth water... I forgive you if you haven't tried any of the recipes from my blog, but you must try this one! (If you don't, it's your loss!) Okay, I'll stop... so that you can start cooking...

What goes in your body (4 vegan):

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 6 medium Japanese eggplant, quartered lengthwise and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• 1 cup marinara sauce
• 1 tbx red wine vinegar
• 1 15-oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 large int springs, plus 2 tbs chopped mint
• Karam's garlic sauce

You are going to:

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 7 minutes or until soft.
3. Stir in eggplant, and cook 5 minutes or until beginning to brown.
4. Add garlic, allspice, and cumin, and cook 1 more minute.
5. Stir in marinara sauce, vinegar and 2/3 cup water, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat, and stir in chickpeas. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Lay mint springs on top of eggplant mixture, cover, and transfer pot to oven. Cook 45 to 50 minutes, or until eggplant is tender.
8. Remove mint springs, and stir in chopped mint. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Secrets from the chef:

• I don't have a Dutch oven, it turned out fine with my oven-proof stainless steel pot.
• I didn't have any mint handy... so I replaced water with mint tea to add a minty flavor. It's probably much better with fresh mint, but I didn't feel like spending any money on mint which grows like a weed in my yard during summer time...
• You MUST have Karam's garlic sauce!
• This can be served with brown rice, quinoa or flat bread.
• The original recipe is from the Vegetarian Times. 

 Bon appétit!