This easy baked eggplant casserole is an easy dinner idea. Known as “imam bayildi” in Turkey, thinly sliced eggplant combines with diced canned tomatoes, yellow onions, garlic and herbs in a lasagna-like platter. Made using a stovetop and oven combo, it’s a deliciously easy, flavorful meal that’s also vegan, paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
I talk a lot in my cookbook about adding healthy fat to your meals. Fat has long had a bad rap in the wellness world. It’s not hard to see why, considering their own name has become synonymous with muffin tops and candles. But this Turkish Eggplant Casserole recipe proves why olive oil is making the world go round.
Raised on fried eggs in olive oil and the philosophy that an avocado a day keeps the doctor away, I’m glad people are finally putting down SnackWells fat-free cookies and starting to reevaluate their healthy choices with a different barometer.
Despite these advances, I still get criticized for slapping the word “healthy” on my recipes alongside a few tablespoons of butter. And I still have to tinker with the amount of oil I use when developing recipes for fitness magazines like SELF, which live and die on the fat grams advertised on their nutrition calculators.
Because I believe in real, unprocessed food, even if it contains pure fat, it’s hard for me not to feel like a hypocrite when I turn in a recipe for low-fat sour cream, non-fat cream cheese cheesecake, and only a meager tablespoon (when I’m lucky) butter in the gluten-free crust. But Mom couldn’t afford her own olive oil budget without those jobs, and sometimes you just have to bite your fat tongue to keep a customer happy.
Why is Imam Bayildi healthy?
This Turkish Eggplant Casserole hits all the notes of a heavy lasagna or eggplant parmesan, but is completely flour and cheese-free, making it gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, and vegan—lots of bases that are hard to cover in one dish! But what makes this vegetarian entree extra healthy and firmly in the Mediterranean diet tradition is all that heart-healthy olive oil.
In case you haven’t noticed by now, or if you got the image above, I consider fat an essential nutrient, and I actively add it to my diet in healthy amounts and various forms. As with any food, there is too much of a good thing, for lack of nutritional jargon, Poorly. So I try to alternate my oils from day to day, usually between olive, coconut, sunflower, flaxseed, and canola.
But olive oil will always have my heart. When I was growing up, my mom kept at least 5 large bottles of this on hand and I watched her puff through them in a matter of weeks. There’s a story in my book about how she spoon-fed herself frozen peas in a bath of olive oil so deep, from a distance, you thought she was eating soup. Despite these questionable habits, to this day my mother is the most health-conscious woman I know. And she’s always ten years ahead of a trend, if her millenary love for millet is any indication.
As with many eggplant recipes, if there’s one fad that fits my mother’s lifelong love of olive oil, it’s the “Mediterranean diet” — also known for ages as the way Greeks, Turks and Sicilians eat . When exploring new cuisines, I love asking restaurants in general for a side of “sauce” to see what they bring. When I did that in Greece, I got a gravy boat with pure, yellow-green olive oil. And I was more than satisfied with this result.
One of my favorite dishes from my trip to Greece was IMama Bayildi from a small tavern in Hydra. The fried eggplant casserole is technically a Turkish dish, but I’ve seen it on many menus across Greece. It’s baked with tomatoes, garlic, and herbs and served at room temperature in a lasagna-like platter.
One slice is so decadent and delicious in its simplicity, you might almost forget your old friend from the Aegean, eggplant parmesan. And in terms of eggplant dinner ideas, she’s been a terrible influence anyway.
There are far worse dishes on the food evil axis than a plate full of eggplant, olive oil and tomatoes. So for those of you who’d rather eat fat than splatter it on your face, here’s a delicious (and healthy!!!) Way to get your olive oil transfusion with a side of veggies.
Many low-FODMAP folks look for recipes that include eggplant, as it’s one of the few vegetables that isn’t taboo. For those low FODMAP, this eggplant casserole recipe can be easily adapted by leaving out the garlic and onions. For more low FODMAP recipes, check out my new book SIBO Made Simple. And click here for the best baked eggplant recipe.
More Eggplant Dinner Ideas:
Read on to learn how to make this delicious Feed Me Phoebe all-time favorite eggplant recipe!
With health and hedonism,
Phoebe
Turkish Eggplant Dinner Casserole (Imam Bayildi)
This easy baked eggplant casserole is an easy dinner idea. Known as “imam bayildi” in Turkey, thinly sliced eggplant combines with diced canned tomatoes, yellow onions, garlic and herbs in a lasagna-like platter. Made using a stovetop and oven combo, it’s a deliciously easy, flavorful meal that’s also vegan, paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
portions 6
instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
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Lightly salt the aubergine slices and leave to rest for 20 minutes. Pat the slices dry and set aside.
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Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large ovenproof (preferably cast iron) skillet. Fry the eggplants in batches over medium-high heat until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add more oil between batches as needed to keep the aubergine from burning, but try not to have a too heavy hand – the pan just needs to be greased. Remove the eggplants on a plate.
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Add the onion to the pan and sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, chilli flakes, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and cinnamon. Cook for another minute until fragrant. Carefully pour in the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in half the parsley.
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If using an ovenproof skillet, transfer 3/4 of the sauce to a bowl, leaving a thin layer. Otherwise, add 1/4 cup sauce to the bottom of an 8×8 or similar casserole dish. Arrange a layer of eggplants evenly on the bottom of the pan or plate. Brush with a layer of sauce and repeat with the remaining aubergine and sauce – just like with lasagna.
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Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until the aubergines are very tender and the sauce has reduced. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing. Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.
Remarks
nutrition
Portion: 4G
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