General TSO's Baked Eggplant - Vegan, GF, Oil-Free & Soy-Free Opt

Hi Friends! 

It's Father's Day today, Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there in the world, especially my own. He continues to be a shining light in my life beaming positivity and love. I thought I'd celebrate by sharing a brand new recipe since it's been a while. Today it's all about the sauce. General TSO's sauce is smothered over breaded and baked eggplant placed on a bed of rice and optional beans for extra protein. It creates a sweet, spicy, tangy meal that probably won't last the night. We couldn't stop eating it! I originally made this with soy curls, tofu would be amazing, tempeh would be great, cauliflower would be out of this world yummy, and really it could go over any veg and rice. It's versatile, delightful and mmm mmm good! Get the recipe below and as featured on YouTube this week!

Happy cooking!
Christa 

GENERAL TSO'S SAUCE & MARINADE:
1/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar
1/4 Cup Soy or Tamari Sauce (Coconut Aminos = Soy-Free)
1-3 tsp Sriracha Sauce (+/-)
3 Cloves Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp Freshly Grated Ginger
Red Chilis, Red Pepper Flakes & Pepper to taste
1 1/2 Tbsp Sweetener of Choice
2 Tbsp Arrowroot Starch (or preferred starch) + 2 Tbsp Water

Veggie or Meat Replacement of choice I used: 
1 Small Eggplant - Peeled & Cubed 

BREADING (Double for larger eggplant)
1/4 Cup Flour of Choice (I used bean flour like chickpea)
1/2 Tbsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp ea: Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
dash Cayenner Pepper

VEGAN EGG  (double for larger eggplant)
1/4 Cup Water
1 tsp Psyllium Husk 

GARNISH
Sesame Seeds
Green Onions - Sliced Fresh

Peaceful Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F. Mix together the General TSO's Sauce ingredients, excluding the 2 tbsp starch + 2 tbsp water.  Set aside. 
• Peel and cut the eggplant into cubes. See note below on eggplant prep.
• Place 3 tbsp of the marinade over the eggplant, mix to cover. Marinade for 20 minutes up to 8 hours. 
• Mix together the vegan egg and congeal for 5 minutes. 
• Place all of the the marinated eggplant in the congealed vegan egg and toss to coat. 
• Mix together the breading ingredients. Shake off any excess congealed egg if needed from the eggplant and transfer all of the pieces to the breading mix. Toss to coat each piece.
• Place each piece of eggplant on a lined baking sheet (parchment, silicone mat) or lightly greased. Bake for 10-15 minutes, flip and bake about 10 minutes longer until golden. 
• While baking the eggplant, bring the sauce ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan. Mix together the starch and water, add the starch slurry to the boiling hot sauce. Remove from heat, mix well. 
• Add the baked eggplant to the sauce. Coat. If you like less sauce, you can add less in a bowl and mix. You can even paint or dunk each piece and then bake longer if you want to. 
• Place rice in a bowl, opt to add beans if you please, I added cooked mung beans to brown rice. Top with as much or as little as you desire, green onions and sesame seeds if you please and dig in!!! A meal to remember and keep around. Healthier than takeout and so satisfying.

See Video for Demo

Notes:

• If it's a small eggplant, it should be okay to use immediately. I did. If it's a large eggplant, you can place the cubed eggplant in a strainer and lightly salt, after 45 minutes you can rinse, pat dry and proceed, this removes the bitterness. 
• I decreased the breading ingredients by half since the eggplant is small, but feel free to double.