Chicken Wrapped Eggplant

Saw this on Kelly and Michael this morning - looks real good and good as leftovers so make a big batch!

Maria Menounos' Chicken with Eggplant

INGREDIENTS:
2 big, long eggplants; sliced the long way (1/8 of an inch—or about 5-7 slices)
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced, or Portobello mushrooms (sauté them first)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper or ½ teaspoon seeded and diced jalapeños
1 cup of feta cheese

Sauce Ingredients:
One 7-ounce can tomato sauce*
One 10- to 12- ounce can diced tomatoes
½ cup olive oil
½ cup diced yellow onion
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground black pepper

Note: Instead of canned sauce, another option is to dice 6 to 8 fresh tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes.

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Spray or brush the eggplant slices with oil. Place them in a baking dish and bake until they get some color, about 10 minutes. Take them out of the oven to cool.

In a sauté pan, cook the chicken in the ¼ cup of oil until golden brown on all sides. Add the onion, spices, and peppers and cook for a few more minutes. Let cool.

Place one tablespoon of the chicken into the middle of an eggplant slice. Wrap the eggplant around the chicken and place the roll on a baking pan. Repeat until you run out of chicken.

To prepare the sauce, in a small saucepan over medium heat, cook all the ingredients together for 7 minutes.

Spoon the sauce over the top of the eggplant rolls.

Sprinkle one cup of feta cheese on top of eggplant rolls.

Bake for 30 Min.


This recipe comes from Maria Menounos' book "The EveryGirl's Guide to Life."