Adventures in Cooking



This week’s post is by Leah Kelley.

I've decided to be adventurous in the kitchen.  I'm going to pick one vegetable a week that I've never had and cook with it.  This week it's eggplant.  I'll admit I was a bit intimidated by it at first.  I kept thinking "How in the world and I'm going to cook this thing?", and "Will my family eat it?"  I'm making Eggplant Parmesan since my family loves Italian food especially Chicken Parmesan.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Here's what my week of meals looks like:

Monday ~ Eggplant Parmesan (See recipe, below)

Tuesday ~ Spaghetti (I'll use the leftover spaghetti sauce from Monday)

Wednesday ~ BBQ Chicken in the Crockpot, baked beans, and creamed spinach

Thursday ~ Taco Night

Friday ~ Derrick and I going on a date, so we'll be eating out.

Saturday ~ BBQ Chicken sandwiches, coleslaw, and potato salad (I'll use the leftover BBQ Chicken from Wednesday)

Sunday ~ We're going to a party so no cooking.

Eggplant Parmesan  (from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 3 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
• 1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.    Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs.  Place in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.

3.    In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom.  Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce.  Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses.  Sprinkle basil on top.

4.    Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.