Eggplant Parm the Healthy Way

As they say, better late than never.  I think that will be my story this summer.  I did cook the Mellanzane Parmigiana (p. 92) and made the Tomato Sauce (p. 62) from Delicious Dishes last week, but then life kind of took over for a few days and so it’s taken me this long to write about it.  We savored the last of it at lunch today, and as is typical of such dishes, it was even better after a few days’ rest.

So here’s the down & dirty details of nearly from scratch tomato sauce.  I followed the recipe to a T because it was my first time.  I bought some genuine San Marzano tomatoes for the purpose.  It’s the first time I’ve used them, expensive as they are compared to regular old store-brand canned tomatoes.  My impression is that the pricey Italian pomodoros taste a little sweeter and mellower than my everyday tomatoes.  I don’t know, but I’ve been told, that the San Marzanos are simply IT for making homemade tomato soup.  Of course the holy grail of tomato cookery would be to pick warm tomatoes off one’s own vines, but I am also advised that the San Marzano tomato is like the true Vidalia onion — has to be grown in that specific place in the world to be the genuine article.

Still, I am out watering my lovely Roma bushes each day to encourage them to give me bushels of fruit destined for the sauce pot and a few other uses.

I did use a stick blender rather than pressing the hot sauce through a sieve.  A sieve — seriously??  I hate losing any tomato-y goodness, even the seeds, in the strainer, and worse than that, I hate washing the stuff out of the nasty little wire baskets.  I use my wire strainers to sift flour or strain liquids or juices and that’s about it.

Enough about equipment — the sauce is incredible in its purity and simplicity!  I did have fresh basil to throw into it.  A little heavy on the olive oil, I thought, but what do I know?  From-scratch sauce I’ve made before can’t touch this.  I’m planning to make batches of this put up in Mason jars as the tomatoes come in.

On to the eggplant.  Robin’s recipe says to put the salted and sweated slices on the grill to cook, which is what I did and it’s the first time I’ve grilled eggplant.  Maybe that’s what gave it the incredible flavor that made me forget about the breadcrumbs and mozzarella I always used in my conventional recipe.

Eggplant slices on the grill

 

Mellanzane Parmigiana (p.92) with Tomato Sauce (p. 62)

 

The eggplant layered with sauce and parmesan nicely filled my casserole dish and the aroma had me ready to eat before it was even halfway done.

 

 

 

 

I cooked some brown rice rotini, tossed with olive oil, garlic and a little butter to serve alongside.

It’s not your mama’s eggplant parm, it’s better!

I thought I’d have to give up my favorite vegetarian main dish, between gluten intolerance and weight loss, but now I can indulge and know it’s healthy as well as delicious.  All the flavors are there, but with much less fat.  I’m hoping I can grow some eggplant in this year’s garden.  I have attempted it many times but the flea beetles get to the plants before they can produce.  I will have to be on the lookout and see if I can prevent the bugs from getting the best of me this year.

The next meal I made was T-bone steaks, grilled to perfection with sauteed mushrooms and sweet potatoes cooked in foil on the grill.  Instead of using a whole stick of butter on the vegetables, I used mostly olive oil with a tablespoon or so of butter for cooking the mushrooms, and dressed the sweet potatoes with EVOO and rosemary and a little sprinkle of sea salt.  I had enough of my steak left over to make a nice lunch of it the next day.  So you see, as much as I love my vegetable dishes, I am still a meat-eater at heart.  I just don’t depend on the meat to star in every meal any more.  It’s more a special treat than the basis of my diet, as I go further down the path of this new way of feeding myself.