Eggplant and Tomato Casserole

Another Vegetarian Epicure recipe! Eggplant and Tomato Casserole is my favorite recipe from the book. I love it. Chris loves it. Enough said.

Ingredients-
1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 lb.) 
1 1/2 tsp. Salt (optional)
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbs. Melted  butter
Ground pepper
2 to 3 tbsp. Chopped onion 
1/2 tsp. Crushed oregano
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 large tomatoes, sliced thin
2 oz. Cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Paprika

Method-
Peel and slice the eggplant. Put the slices in a pan with the salt and about an inch of boiling water. Cover tightly and cook about 10 minutes. Drain. Mash the eggplant and mix in the eggs, melted butter, pepper, onion, oregano and bread crumbs.

Butter a shallow 1 1/2 qt. baking dish. Cover the bottom with half the tomato slices. Spoon in all of the eggplant mixture and spread evenly. Arrange the rest of the tomato slices on top. Mix together the cheeses and sprinkle over the top layer of tomatoes. Add a sprinkle of paprika and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

I made a green salad and added the Double Nutty Farro Salad from last night. Nice flavor and texture.

Baba Ghanoush and Rib Eye Steak

I decided to make Baba Ghanoush today. I had an eggplant and wanted to make something easy. The recipe I used was from the Vegetarian Epicure. You remember that book. It was one of the first books in my cookbook collection.

I found the recipe online, I think my copy of the book is in a still unpacked box in the garage. Of course, as usual, I did not bookmark the page and now can not find it. The internet is so large. I found a similar recipe for the ingredients, but a different technique which I may try the next time. Stay tuned for that one. 

For this batch I roasted a whole eggplant for an hour, skin on. I placed the roasted eggplant in a ziplock bag after removing it from the oven for 20 minutes. Then I removed the skin and placed the pulp in a bowl and mashed it up. I added 5 tablespoons of lemon juice, 4 tablespoons of tahini, Salt and pepper. And I added some Cholula Sauce because I was not using garlic. I place the mixture in a serving dish and topped it with fresh chopped parsley. And the votes are in and they are favorable. It was perfect to enjoy while the steaks were on the grill.

The steaks were rib-eye, which Chris picked up on his grocery run. I am still not up for that trip. We marinated them in Maker's Mark Gourmet Sauce. They were grilled perfectly and melted in your mouth.

And tomorrow is back to work.

Eggplant Tomato Casserole

This was a fantastic dinner. I first made this recipe a long, long, long time ago.  The Vegetarian Epicure was the first vegetarian cookbook I purchased. I bought it when it first came out. I gave my sister a copy for Christmas that year. And when the 2nd book came out I bought that too. I did not go in for the Moosewood Cookbook, I had a roommate who swore by it. The Vegetarian Epicure was the most amazing cookbook I had seen at that time.

I could not put my hands on my copy of the book. I think it is in a box in the garage. So I googled the recipe name and it brought me to a new blog. Living the Simple Vintage Life. A nice place to spend some time on a Saturday afternoon.

So the ingredients for this recipe were from... yes you guessed right, my Dad's garden. 

Here is the recipe, I copied it from Living the Simple Vintage Life. (So glad I found that blog!)

Eggplant Tomato Casserole

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 lb.)
1 1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
2 eggs, beaten

2 Tbs. melted low cal margarine (or butter)
ground pepper

2 to 3 tbs. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. crushed oregano

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 large tomatoes, sliced thin

2 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
paprika

Peel and slice the eggplant. Put the slices in a pan with the salt and about an inch of boiling water. Cover tightly and cook about 10 minutes. Drain. Mash the eggplant and mix in the eggs, melted butter, pepper, onion, oregano and bread crumbs.

Butter a shallow 1 1/2 qt. baking dish. Cover the bottom with half the tomato slices. Spoon in all of the eggplant mixture and spread evenly. Arrange the rest of the tomato slices on top. Mix together the cheeses and sprinkle over the top layer of tomatoes. Add a sprinkle of paprika and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Trust me, even people who are not eggplant fans like this recipe!

So what did we have for dinner a year ago?

Grilled Steaks, Butter Beans and Zucchini Salad

So what did we have for dinner 2 years ago?

Beef Kabobs

So what did we have for dinner 3 years ago?

No Post!  : (