How to cook eggplant to substitute for a bread slice?

[Jothika]

 Hey, I just cooked my first whole 30 breakfast at home. I had read that some people slice eggplant and use that where they would normally have a piece of toast. So I roasted eggplant for a few minutes and then topped it with some basil leaves, some compliant turkey bacon, and grape tomatoes. But the eggplant slices are very disappointing; structurally, it’s a limp and does not support the toppings. Is there a special way to cook them to make them more stiff? Thanks! 

[ShannonM816]

You might look for eggplant chip recipes if you want something you can actually pick up and eat. 

[pags98]

We use a dehydrator and they turn out pretty crispy.  No sure they'd support all you have on there in the picture but definitely more crispy.

[Kacieleonab]

I read online that there is a lot of moisture in eggplant. So after you slice, add a generous amount of salt...wait, dab the moisture...and then repeat this 2 or 3 times before you make the "toast." the moisture probably made it a bit soggy.

[Jihanna]

Disclaimer: I've never actually used eggplant in place of bread, so I cannot vouch for how effective this method is... but...

I found a burger recipe during my first round, which includes 3 different bun alternatives -- mushroom caps, sweet potato slices, and eggplant slices.

Here's how the recipe says to prepare the eggplant slices for burger "buns":

• For the eggplant buns: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Slice one eggplant evenly into 3/4-inch-thick rounds. Arrange in a single layer on the prepared pan. Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoon of cooking fat evenly over the eggplant, then flip each slice and drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoon of fat on the other side. Season with the salt and pepper. Roast the eggplant for 20 minutes, until it is browned on the outside and fork-tender. Allow to cool, then stack a burger and fillings between two slices, and serve.

Again, I've never done eggplant this way, I've just kept the recipe in case I ever decided to try it. In general, I'm perfectly happy just using sweet potatoes or Bella caps instead of bread.

Salting eggplant is almost always suggested prior to frying it or coating it so that it cooks with a crust of some sort. The recipes I've seen for roasting it haven't suggested salting. Roasting for too little time or at too low a temp could produce soggier results than higher temp and longer time, also.

[antheaM]

On 8/23/2018 at 4:20 AM, pags98 said:

We use a dehydrator and they turn out pretty crispy.  No sure they'd support all you have on there in the picture but definitely more crispy.

How do you prepare them for the dehydrator.  I do a lot of dehydrating but never eggplant