The first time I used eggplant, I made this dish that was SO elaborate...I bought all of these expensive ingredients, and followed the recipe to a T! I tried it and YUCK! The Eggplant was so bitter. Never again..or until I thought?
IF you have had that happen to you, please do NOT give up on this wonderful vegetable. TRUST me. It will be your favourite veggie if you do the following.
Peel, slice and SALT your eggplant on paper towels for 20-30 minutes, then rinse off before doing ANYTHING with it....
That step is very important. It removes ALL the bitter flavours.
So tonight's WONDERFUL dish? OK, this is a GOOD one my friends!
I don't know what to call it though? Lets call it............
Greek Lasagna!
Grab an eggplant...peel and slice and put on paper towels. Sprinkle a liberal amount of salt..let sit for 20 minutes.
Brown some extra lean ground beef, a chopped onion, and as many yummy veggies as you can ( make your typical spaghetti sauce) we all know how to do that, right!? Mushrooms, peppers, lots of garlic, Italian seasoning, etc..
NOTE: I was making spaghetti tonight, but I had an eggplant that I had to use up, so I made spaghetti for the kids, but this for me, since I don't quite have the metabolism as the kids do!
Get a nice dish. Pour some crushed tomatoes on the bottom. Add a layer of eggplant. Add a layer of spaghetti sauce ( to get some meat in this dish, but not too much) If you are vegetarian, skip that part.
Sprinkle some Feta cheese on the layers...and top with eggplant and more sauce. More feta and VOILA! put in the oven.
The aroma will make you dance around the kitchen....ok, maybe not, but it sure smells good!
This is what it looked like coming out.
and now on my plate.
I had some fresh spinach leaves, so I added that for a side with some strawberries, drizzled with an aged balsamic vinegar. DO NOT GO EWWW! trust me. My lovely European neighbour said they put balsamic on strawberries over vanilla ice-cream. IT IS DIVINE! try it over frozen yogurt instead though and save the grams of fat. DELISH.
I had a grilled pepper in the fridge for sandwiches, and I like heat, so I added one of those too. Why not?
The wine!? CAN'T forget the wine!
Since my husband is still at work, I just grabbed a glass of what we had open. He might freak and say this is the wrong wine, but you know what? It worked SO well together! When he gets home, I will ask what he thinks.
WINE: 96 Points- 2005 Australian Shiraz-Viognier mix. BEAUTIFUL wine.
( ps. that is NOT 96 WW points..just the name! relax!)
Now off to watch the sunset with some vanilla frozen yogurt, balsamic, and strawberries...yum!
