Eggplant "Meat"balls

I have not been having the best luck these days...

My foot started hurting pretty bad after a zumba class the other day.  I tried running the next day, but it was worse! So, I went to the doctor and found out that I have tendonitis in my foot and I can't run for 3-4 weeks! I'm so bummed.  This was not how I wanted to end my summer.

Then, yesterday I woke up to discover that my eyelid was so swollen that I couldn't open my eye all the way.  It became less puffy as the morning went on, but it was still visibly swollen.  On top of all this, the skin around my eyes was really red and dry.  I had no clue what was going on!  Luckily, or coincidentally, I had an eye doctor appointment scheduled for that day.  I found out that, thankfully, there's nothing wrong with my eyes, and it's a skin problem.  So, now I can't wear eye make up, I have to go to a dermatologist, and I look sort of like a scary zombie.  Plus, I limp, which just adds to the zombie effect.

However, I did make some freaking awesome vegetarian meatballs.  My friends and I had a Godfather night, where we made pasta, meatballs, cannoli, and watched the Godfather.  A few of my friends and my boyfriend are vegetarians, so I decided to just make vegetarian meatballs!  I had heard of eggplant meatballs and so I decided to give it a try! They turned out to be really simple, super yummy, and even the meat eaters enjoyed them!

Eggplant "Meat"balls (adapted from HealthyDelish)

Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants
1/2 cup italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp kosher salt

Directions:
1. Peel the eggplants and then shred them with the coarse side of a grater.  Sprinkle the shredded eggplant with the salt and toss to combine.  Drain out as much water as you can by squeezing the shredded eggplant with your hands.  I created 5 large balls of eggplant that I squeezed water out of and then placed on paper towels to drain some more.
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. Place the eggplant, breadcrumbs, parmesan, and egg in a medium bowl.  Stir with a spoon until well combined.  Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out balls of eggplant and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet.   This recipe will make about 20-24.  Mold balls into tight "meat"balls and bake for 15 minutes.  Turn each meatball over and continue to bake for another 10 minutes.  Serve over pasta!

Enjoy :)