Halloween Healthy Snacks: Eggplant Mummies
Eggplant Mummies
Create a hauntingly delicious centerpiece for your Halloween table with these Eggplant Mummies. This creative plant-based entrée features savory stuffed eggplants wrapped in crispy rice paper "bandages," served on a vibrant beet-and-potato "bloody" purée.
Ingredients
- For the Mummies:
- 2 Large elongated eggplants
- 250 g Firm tofu
- 200 g Mushrooms
- ½ cup Rolled oats
- 1 Onion
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon Tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon Sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- For the Rice Paper Bandages:
- 6-8 sheets of rice paper 22cm diameter
- Warm water for soaking
- For the Bloody Puree:
- 3 Medium potatoes
- 1 Cooked beet
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Salt to taste
- For Decoration:
- Black olives for eyes
- Red pepper strips for mouth
Instructions
Filling:
- Finely chop the onion, garlic, and mushrooms.
- In a pan with olive oil, sauté the onion and garlic until softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid. Crumble in the tofu and add tomato paste, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper.
- Cook for 5 minutes before stirring in the oats. Set the mixture aside to cool.
Prepare the eggplant bases:
- Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and scoop out the centers, leaving a 1cm thick border
- Fill each eggplant half with the tofu-mushroom mixture, pressing it down firmly.
For the rice paper bandages:
- Remember to work with one sheet at a time, dip each rice paper in warm water for 5-10 seconds until pliable but still slightly firm.
- Lay it flat and cut into 2-3cm wide strips using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife.
Create the mummy
- Drape the strips over the stuffed eggplants in a criss-cross pattern, slightly overlapping them to create a wrapped mummy effect.
- Leave a small section uncovered at one end for the face. The rice paper will continue to soften and adhere to itself and the eggplant.
- Place the wrapped mummies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes, until the eggplants are tender and the rice paper is crisp.
Bloody puree
- Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and mash them with the cooked beet, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt until smooth and uniformly red.
Assembly
- Spread the bloody puree on a serving platter.
- Arrange the baked mummies on top.
- Create faces by placing olive slices for eyes and red pepper strips for mouths on the uncovered sections.
- The result is a spooky yet delicious plant-based entrée with crisp, translucent bandages that hold their shape beautifully.
