Eat Your Veggies

To answer a question from a comment on my last post, no, my extended family does not expect my family unit (myself, husband, kids, pet rock) to try meat dishes at our Thanksgiving meal. They are respectful of our choice. I do feel compelled to fix something really great to represent the vegetarian lifestyle. My pressure to perform well is completely internal and my own mental issue.

That being said, there was also a request in that comment for an Eggplant Parmesan recipe. Here is the quick and easy way to fix it . . .

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1 - eggplant cut into slices (it should look like round circles or disks of eggplant, about 1/4″ thick — in this case thinner is better)

Salt (enough to lightly coat the eggplant slices — not a big heavy winter coat, but more like a light spring rain)

3-4 eggs — crack them open into a shallow dish like a pie pan or a plate (yes, this sounds odd and cryptic if you don’t know what I’m doing, but all will be clear soon . . .)

3 cups - Seasoned bread crumbs (you can buy bags of seasoned bread crumbs, particularly at this time of year, or you can make your own. To make your own, toast some bread so that it is completely dried out - but not too dark/burnt - then crumble the bread and add your favorite Italian seasonings to it. I like to add oregano, thyme and basil. Add what you like and in the amounts you like to your taste. Yes, I know that isn’t specific. You may have to play around with the seasoning mix. Just remember that it is easier to add than to take away, so start out with light seasoning, taste it and then add more, if needed.)

Olive Oil - extra virgin is the best, but a little virgin is okay (Hmm . . . degrees of virginity? You think your parents would have bought that when you were in high school?)

2 cups - grated Parmesan cheese (and I’m not talking about that powdered stuff that comes in a plastic container that you shake out and it looks like yellow snow. I mean the good stuff that you have to grate yourself. Trust me, it’s worth the extra effort. You can find it for sale in blocks in the gourmet cheese section at your grocery store)

2 jars of spaghetti sauce — the easiest thing is to buy jars of your family’s favorite. You can also make your own if you have a good recipe.

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Now that you have all of your ingredients collected it’s time to start. And, yeah, you should get everything together and ready first before starting to cook as it saves panic attacks in the middle of the process because you are missing something.

Take the sliced eggplant, sprinkle both sides with salt and let it drain in a colander or on paper towels. After about 15 minutes, turn them over and let them drain on the other side for another 15 minutes.

When the eggplant is about done draining, lay out an assembly line for yourself. First put out the pie pan with the raw eggs, then another plate or pie pan with the bread crumbs on it in a spread out layer. The third and last plate should be one that is empty. Take your drained eggplant slices one at a time. Dip both sides of each slice in the egg, then lay the slice on top of the bread crumbs. Flip the eggplant slice over to coat the other side with bread crumbs. When both sides are coated, place the slice on the empty plate.

When you are about half way through with coating the eggplant slices, heat up a frying pan/skillet to a medium high heat. I personally love my cast iron pans, but use whatever you are comfortable with. Once the pan is hot, pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Fry the eggplant in the pan. I will take a few minutes each side to get the eggplant cooked through and soft. You will have to use your own judgment on how long it takes each side because it depends on how your individual stove cooks. The main thing is to stay there and not let it burn. That means you shouldn’t be e-mailing, texting or watching TV while doing the frying. Yeah, I know, weird concept.

While you are frying, you can also put the spaghetti sauce in a pot and heat it up.

When you are almost done frying the second side, take your grated Parmesan cheese and sprinkle some of it on the eggplant slices, allowing it to melt as the eggplant cooks.

As you take the eggplant out of the frying pan, place it on paper towels to drain.

After frying all of the eggplant, place it in one layer in a baking dish. Pour the warmed-up spaghetti sauce over the eggplant slices. You can either stop here or you can add more Parmesan cheese on top and bake the whole thing for about half an hour at 350 degrees. My preference is not to bake it, but I like my Italian-style food pretty saucy (just like me).

Now, eat and enjoy!

If you make this dish, comment and tell us how it went. Did all go well or did you end up cleaning egg and bread crumbs off of the ceiling?

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