Rhubarb Pecan "Bread" Pudding (For Two)

Do you enjoy being all sneaky and tricky when it comes to "secret ingredients" in your recipes?

Have we got a deal for you!

We fooled everyone before with our "What-Do-You-Mean-It's-Not-Apple Apple Crisp (click HERE for that recipe) that was made with zucchini and have been on the look out ever since for another tasty way to trick people. 

Enter Maria Mind Body Health. I came across her intriguing recipe for bread pudding that didn't use any bread (Click HERE for Maria's version).

You will never guess what you substitute for the bread. 

Well, you might if you looked at the photo above.... but otherwise, you'd never guess.

Eggplant!!

Crazy, right?

I was skeptical but have been craving bread pudding but am going bread free for this month (Long story short - I eat waaaay too much bread) so anyways, this recipe needed to be tried.

I made some changes to suit my taste and it turned out amazing!

If you had told me eggplant could be a dessert I would not have believed you. Needless to say, my mind has been changed. 

You should definitely give this a try. Don't be all judge-y and say it looks yucky. (Sue, I'm looking in your direction...) Looks can be deceiving. It's the opposite of yucky AND and and... according to Myfitnesspal, 1/2 of this recipe is only 212 calories, 9 carbs, 18 fat, 8 protein, and 4 fiber. That's like a bajillion times healthier than "normal" bread pudding. 

Rhubarb Pecan "Bread" Pudding

(Adapted from Maria Mind Body Health)

Ingredients

1 cup eggplant, peeled and cubed

3/4 cup rhubarb, chopped

1 Tbsp coconut oil melted (scant)

2 eggs

3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (I use Almond Breeze)

2 Tbsp Sugar Twin Granulated Brown (or similar sugar replacement)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp pecans, finely chopped

Toppings

1/2 cup 0 fat Greek Yogurt, frozen 

1 Tbsp fat free caramel ice cream topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. 

Place chopped eggplant and rhubarb in a 5 - 6 inch oven safe dish. Drizzle with the melted coconut oil.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

While eggplant and rhubarb are baking, whisk together eggs, almond milk, sweetener, cinnamon, and vanilla until well mixed. 

After eggplant and rhubarb has baked for 15 minutes, remove from oven and stir in the pan. Pour the egg mixture over the eggplant and rhubarb. Squish down to help the liquid be absorbed.

Sprinkle top with pecans.

Bake for another 45 - 60 minutes - center should no longer be jiggly at all and top will be browned.

Let cool for about 10  minutes before serving. Divide in 2 equal parts and place on serving dishes.

Top each serving with 1/4 cup of the Greek yogurt.

Drizzle each with 1/2 Tbsp of the caramel topping.

Dive in! Careful! It's hot.

You can also serve it cold - but I definitely prefer it warm. You can heat up leftovers in the microwave and it is just as good as out of the oven.

The nutritional counts with the Greek yogurt and caramel are: 250 calories, 9 carbs, 18 fat, 14 protein, and 4 fiber. 

The texture is pretty darned close to "normal" bread pudding. I was being a little judge-y because it looked a little sketchy but I was very pleasantly surprised. This definitely calmed my bread pudding cravings AND in a very healthified and tasty way!