The Maiden Voyage

I discovered food blogs while wedding planning and fell.in.love. The photography, amazing meals and creations people came up with was inspiring! I felt blogging would be a great way to be more creative and test/ stretch my comfort level plus, try new recipes and the added bonus of trying to keep my kitchen clean (for pictures of course!). I do not eat red meats or pork, use very little dairy in my meals (low-fat/fat-free) and mostly whole-wheat products. My poor husband was a meat-and-potato man himself! Poor guy!

My husband, Danimal, and I were married in September 2008 while weakened Tropical Storm Hannah threatened our outdoor ceremony. We live in beautiful New England with our zoo of animals, Simon the Stinky & Dewey the Danger-kitten.

I am going to initiate this blog with an easy & relatively healthy meal of Eggplant Parm- My Way. Danimal is out of town for work & so I'm cooking for myself!

Eggplant Parm- Social Worker Style
Ingredients:
1 eggplant
Kosher salt
2 eggs (1 whole, 1 egg white)
bread crumbs (I use whole wheat)
whole wheat pasta
pasta sauce (bottled- I was in a hurry!)

Supplies:
Knife
Paper towels
Cookie sheets
Aluminum foil
Cooking Spray (Olive Oil)
2 small bowls
Pot for cooking pasta & sauce


Wash & dry the eggplant. Take a nice sharp knife and slice the eggplant into 1/4-1/2 inch rounds. Lay eggplant slices in a single layer on cookie sheets and sprinkle with kosher salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. The salt draws water out of the eggplant.

Take a paper towel, place an eggplant slice on it and fold the towel over. Squeeze gently to absorb some of the water. Put aside and repeat. Preheat oven to 350.

In one bowl, crack one egg and separate the yolk. Keep the egg white and add one whole egg and beat together. In the other bowl, pour in bread crumbs (I just eyeball- I estimate 1 1/2 cups, you can add more as you need it). Line a cookie sheet with tin foil & spray w/olive oil cooking spray (tin foil is option, I find it works better).


Dip eggplant slice in egg covering both sides, shake off excess. Then dip the eggplant slice in breadcrumbs and cover both sides. Place in a single layer on cookie sheet.

If you run out of egg mixture, just mix up more. Repeat dipping in the egg & breadcrumbs until you finish. Place in oven. Cook for 25-30 minutes, turning once, or until slightly browned.
Boil pasta as directed and heat up sauce. Combine as you like. I don't add cheese but feel free to & enjoy!