Eggplant Parmesan
February 4, 2008 by arielle
I’ve been trying to post more dinners/recipes lately. It’s hard because I really don’t use recipes or exact amounts when I cook, but I’ve been paying more attention to amounts so that I can post them later - which is probably helping me as much as you.
Anyway, to the point: I LOVE eggplant parmesan. But I don’t like how it’s fried. And since I’d never fry anything at home anyway, not only for health reasons but also because it seems like more trouble than it’s worth (I mean, I don’t have a Fry Daddy…does anyone else remember those?), I make it in the oven:
This is super easy, really good, and also healthy. I use about half of a big eggplant for Chris and I, and it definitely fills us up. I think most people probably serve it with pasta, which seems traditional, but I don’t even do that. Usually I make a little spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil as a side dish. It’s one of my favorite meals ever. The final product:
Yum. I want to eat it again 
I’ll put the full recipe under the “Favorite Recipes” tab.
As for the snacking, I was really hungry today. I’m always really hungry, but it seemed worse than usual for some reason. I didn’t even have Splenda. Maybe it was because I didn’t eat a real dinner last night? Who knows. For a snack around three, I had some of my tabbouli:
Sorry for the blurry photo. I think by now you may be on to the fact that we quite possibly have the oldest digital camera in America. Like it was one of the first ones ever made. Pair it with my lack of skills and you get photos that are either blurry, blindingly bright, or look like I live in a cave. Which I don’t.
Anyway, after the tabbouli, I had a small pear. It wasn’t that ripe so I drizzled it with a little honey:
And then of course after dinner came the Edy’s cookies and cream ice cream. I would like to kill the person who decided that 1/2 a cup was an appropriate ice cream serving, because it is absolutely not:
I really pack it in. In fact, it’s all I can do not to lick the measuring cup when I’m done - and if Chris didn’t need to use it next I’d probably definitely do it.
haha, your comment about the 1/2-cup serving made me laugh :0D it’s the same thing with 1-cup being the serving for cereal, or 2 ounces for pasta - it’s unrealistic. don’t worry, and just enjoy your ice cream :0)
yum your eggplant looks yummy! I have made it that way, and I also have tried making it more like a lasagna with layers of eggplant and spinach and light ricotta - delicious!
That made me think of this, from hungrygirl.com
Dear Hungry Girl,
When I measure out a half-cup of ice cream, should I pack down the ice cream tightly or put it lightly in the cup?
Ice Cream Queen
Dear Ice Cream Queen,
Great question! So great, in fact, that I felt the need to experiment and find out the answer for myself. The results were slightly depressing. A pint of ice cream does not hold 4 tightly packed half-cup servings. The serving size listed on the ice cream carton refers to lightly packed ice cream. Waaaaah! I know it’s tempting to count your tightly packed half-cup of ice cream as one serving, but don’t do it! (And unfortunately, now that you’ve read this, ignorance is no longer a valid excuse.) When you’re scooping out ice cream, spoon out around 1/4th of the carton if it’s a pint, and 1/16th of the carton if it’s a half-gallon. If you think that sounds like an impossible task, opt for a diet-friendly, individually wrapped, single-serving frozen treat. Some of my favorites are the Weight Watchers GIANT Cookies & Cream Bar, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and any of the reduced calorie fudge bars. Yum!
VeggieGirl - I feel the same way about cereal. Luckily I don’t eat it that often.
Sara - I do that exact same thing, without breading the eggplant though. I also add zucchini slices - it’s sooo good! In fact, I was planning to make it one night this week with the leftover eggplant.
Snickitysnack - I think I secretly knew that and just didn’t want to admit it! I’m going to keep packing, though, because I’m sure the extra 50 or so calories won’t kill me
I like Hungry Girl, but sometimes I think they are too hung up on calories, calories, calories - I’m not a big fan of how they promote all those 100 calorie packs, Splenda, and other crap that is low calorie, but still not GOOD for you.
amen sistah!
Is the spinach baby? Fresh or Frozen? Thanks!
That eggplant parm looks great!
TrishT - It is baby spinach, fresh. The only thing I hate about fresh spinach is that it cooks down SO MUCH. Chris and I could easily eat three bags, cooked
Thanks, Karen!
Thanks Karen! For a “new” cook your idea’s are great! I’m going to try this meal this weekend.
[...] didn’t measure it out tonight - I figured since I’ve been measuring it wrong all along (thanks, snickitysnack) I might as well just scoop out a reasonable portion and get on with my life. I’m sure this [...]
Karen,
I bought fresh spinach and have cooked it 3 times now! Sooooo great and easy. Thank you!
Oh good!! Isn’t it great? I never really ate much spinach because I don’t really like it uncooked, but Chris loves it and I love it cooked now too. It’s great in things like lasagna and other pasta dishes too. And in omelets!!
[...] dinner we had eggplant parmesan. Good stuff, as always. Think I’m too full for dessert, but we’ll [...]