Eggplant Parmesean

As you saw in the previous post, I started growing my own basil (OK, I meant the boys). I had so much I thought I would try making my own pesto. I googled it and found this recipe from Tyler Florence. It was from his show How to Boil Water and the episode was called Veggie Delight. Often times I will click on the link to see what else was made during that shows episode. That is when I saw his recipe for Eggplant Parmesan. Eggplant has always been one of the veggies that scared me. I was never a fan of the texture or taste but, I never ate peppers or onions before and now I don't mind them in my food, so I decided to give Eggplant a second chance.

Eggplant Parmesan

What You Need:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons capers, drained
2 (28-ounce) cans tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano), crushed by hand
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, hand torn
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups dried bread crumbs
1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 pounds medium eggplants, trimmed and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 pounds whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 1/4 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Romano
2 pounds shredded mozzarella cheese

The Steps:
First make the sauce: Put a large saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the olives, red pepper flakes, and capers, and let that cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Toss in the tomatoes with their juices and bring to a low simmer. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.


Combine the bread crumbs, garlic powder, and oregano in a shallow bowl; season generously with salt and pepper and mix well. Crack 3 of the eggs into another shallow bowl; season with salt and pepper and beat with a fork to mix. Put the flour in another shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the eggplant, flour, beaten eggs, and bread crumbs on a work surface near the stove.


Heat about 1/4-inch olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, dredge several eggplant slices first in the flour, then dip them in the egg, and finally coat them in the bread crumbs. Put as many eggplant in the skillet as will fit comfortably in a single layer and cook until tender and well browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Cook all of the eggplant slices this way, adding more olive oil to the pan as needed.


Stir together the ricotta and 1/2 cup of the Parmigiano cheese. Stir in the basil and remaining 2 eggs, and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To assemble the dish, first get yourself set up with a large, buttered baking dish. Have ready the eggplant, the ricotta mixture, the tomato sauce, the shredded mozzarella cheese and the remaining 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano. To start, spoon some of the tomato sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Now add a layer of eggplant. Spread with half of the ricotta mixture.


Spoon another layer of tomato sauce over and sprinkle with about one-third of the mozzarella. Repeat with a layer of eggplant, the rest of the ricotta, tomato sauce, and another third of the mozzarella. Finish with the rest of the eggplant, the rest of the tomato sauce, and the rest of the mozzarella. Sprinkle with the 3/4 cup Parmigiano.

Put the dish in the oven and bake for about 1 hour, until golden and bubbling. Let stand for about 20 minutes before cutting.

The Verdict:
I actually thought it was pretty good, the Doc, not so much. He wasn't a fan of eggplant before either, but this didn't change his mind. David tried it, but I am not sure he loved it, however, Shaun couldn't get enough. I am wondering if he just liked the cheesey goodness surrounding the fried eggplant.



For this dish, I made my own bread crumbs by throwing some slices of stale whole wheat bread into my food processor (OMG, I love that thing!). In my mind, using whole wheat bread to make the crumbs made "healthier". Ha! I also did use lower fat mozzarella cheese, however I did use full fat ricotta. I don't see why you would need to use the full fat, though I definitely would NOT use fat free because I do notice a difference.


I got some feedback from some friends, who are experts on the dish, and I was advised for next time to cut it in circles and skin it. I also didn't cut it as thin as I would have liked. I think this is definitely worth trying out again, because the boys seemed to like it enough and I would like to see how different it turns out making those adjustments. I'll just have to make some chicken for the Doc! I would also need to make sure I gave myself more time to prepare so we're not eating dinner at 7:30 again. This dish is more of a weekend dinner, as opposed to a weeknight dinner.

Fresh Basil

I have started an herb garden! Well OK, I didn't start an herb garden, the boys started an herb garden with Daddy's help! The last two times I tried turned into a big FAIL! I bought one of those potted basil plants from the supermarket and the boys re-potted it in the window box I picked up at target. It is my opinion, that basil MUST be fresh, ALWAYS! The problem is that it's expensive to buy at the supermarket and you never use all of it before it goes bad. So the best way to prevent that is to grow your own. Along with the basil, they also planted some oregano and cilantro seeds. At first I didn't think it was going to make it, but it persevered through the nasty triple H weather and within a week my basil had doubled in size and the oregano and cilantro budded.

Our City Back Yard Herb Garden


Since I had so much basil, I decided to make some pesto for dinner! While browsing pasta dishes I also came across a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan. I have never made it before, but decided to give it a shot, since it fits into my goal of adding more veggies into our diets! I will post the recipe I used, along with pictures tomorrow! For now, it's late and time for this tired Momma to hit the sack!

My New Food Journey!

Five weeks ago I made a decision to get back on track. I had plateaued with my post-pregnancy weight loss and I was feeling really down about it. It was time to stop making excuses and just start cooking again. I have been in a big time rut, but I am excited to start cooking again and making healthy meals for me and the boys! I am looking at food in a whole new way now and my goal is to cut out as much processed food as possible, and start making better choices about the food we eat. By doing this, I feel like I don't have to be on a "diet". Everything in moderation!

For tonights dinner, I made Flank Steak Salad with Plums and Blue Cheese that I saw in the August 2010 edition of Cooking Light Magazine that I picked up at the supermarket the other night. Salads are becoming a go to dinner when I don't feel like cooking. This one is very simple but very flavorful!

What You Need:
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1lb flank steak, trimmed
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 cups loosely packed baby arugula
3 plums, thinly sliced
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

The Steps:
1. Combine pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice in a small bowl; rub over both sides of steak.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove steak from pan; let rest 5 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices.

3. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, honey, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add arugula; toss gently to coat. Arrange about 1 1/2 cups arugula mixture onto each of 4 plates; top each serving with 3 ounces steak, about 1/2 cup plums, and 1 tablespoon cheese.



The Verdict:
This was really, really good! I have never been a fan of arugula before, heck I have never really been into "Rabbit Food" (as my brother Dave calls it) before. To be perfectly honest, I turned my nose up at it before really giving it a fair chance. It wasn't half bad though! It definitely has more bite to it than a spinach salad would but I'll use it again.

The dressing was excellent! Very light and had a hint of sweetness form the honey. I loved that it had a "from scratch" dressing because it fits into my goal of cutting out processed foods. By making the dressing myself, as opposed to buying it from the store, I know what is in the dressing there are no fillers or preservatives!

I ended up using thinly sliced sirloin steak because the supermarket was out of flank steak. We also grilled it because, it's summer and that is what you do with meat in the summer! The Doc is the GrillMaster of the house and the steaks were perfectly grilled!

All around a fabulous dinner and when you eat a dinner like that you have saved yourself some room for some ICE CREAM!