I decided to be brave tonight and try something new for dinner: Eggplant Parmesan. Some friends of ours made it for us not too long ago (although, a vegan version), and it was actually quite good. I wasn’t sure that I had ever actually had eggplant before. For whatever reason, it just always sounded like something that would taste bad. After my first exposure, however, I realized I might actually like eggplant! I was at the grocery store today, not really sure what I wanted to make for dinners this week, when I stumbled upon eggplant in the produce section. I make Chicken Parmesan from time to time, so I figured I could just replace the chicken with eggplant and that could be dinner tonight! Eggplant is a little different than chicken, so here’s the recipe I made up:
Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients:
1 eggplant, sliced into 1/3 inch thick pieces
1 egg
milk
bread crumbs
seasoning (to taste) – italian seasoning, garlic, etc.
olive oil
pasta or pizza sauce
mozzarella cheese / Italian cheese blend, shredded
Directions:
I remembered that our friends had warned us that it is a little tricky to cook eggplant so that it doesn’t turn out bitter or too soggy. I thought I remembered them soaking it in salt water, but I ended up just sprinkling salt on either side and setting the slices of eggplant on a piece of paper towel for about 15 minutes to “drain”. I then rinsed the eggplant slices under cold water and dried off with paper towel. From there, I just followed my normal process for Chicken Parmesan. I dipped each piece of eggplant in a mixture of 1 beaten egg + milk, the dipped in seasoned breadcrumbs. I repeated that so each piece was double-coated, then placed in a skillet with enough olive oil to cover the bottom. I cooked the eggplant over medium heat, turning once, until the breadcrumb coating was browned on both sides. From there, I transferred the pieces to two baking dishes, topped with pasta sauce and Italian cheese blend, and set under a low broil in the oven until the cheese was bubbly and browned. It turned out pretty good! The eggplant was not soggy or bitter — and, in fact, could hardly be tasted beneath the cheese, sauce and breadcrumbs. I served this with a side of buttered lemon noodles and green beans from the garden!
I also decided that I needed to use up some of our plethora of cherries. I had found this recipe online for cherry margaritas. I adapted it to use about twice as many cherries and made them frozen cherries for a blended drink. It was pretty good, though a little chunky with the cherries. Perhaps I should have kept it in the blender longer.
At the Water's Edge 
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