Recipe: Eggplant Parmigiana - THM style (S)

Hello! Sorry, I fell off the blogging bandwagon. But I'm back with a yummy recipe! That makes it all better, right?

I love Italian food. Well, I love all food, actually - but last night I made a pasta dish for my family using regular pasta. Pre-Trim Healthy Mama I would have easily had a bowl full and maybe more. So in keeping with the Italian theme for the evening I made myself some eggplant parmigiana. 

I didn't actually measure all the ingredients and just kind of winged it.  There's no exact science - as your using the "breading" mixture and find you're running low, just throw some more ingredients in the bowl.  Scroll down for the pictures I briefly snapped as I cooked.

Ingredients:

One large eggplant (or more depending on family size)

Almond meal or flour

Flax meal

2 eggs whisked

Oil for frying - coconut or olive oil - your choice!

Italian seasoning

Garlic powder

Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Tomato sauce of choice (if on THM make sure it's a no-added sugar sauce)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1.  Wash, dry and then slice eggplant into 1 inch wide (or less) sliced pieces.  I usually don't use pieces towards the very top or very bottom of the eggplant - but that's just me.

2.  In a larger bowl combine about one cup of flax meal and a half cup of almond meal or flour.  Add Italian seasoning such as oregano, basil and parsley flakes to your mix and garlic powder to taste.  You may also add grated Parmesan cheese also for more flavor.  Be sure to combine well.

3.  Pour choice of oil in pan and begin to heat. Use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and give a good amount of liquid for the eggplant pieces to fry in.

4.  At this time you should pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

5.  In another wide opening bowl, whisk the two eggs together. Check to see if oil is heating up nicely.

6.  Submerge each piece of eggplant in the egg and flip to get both sides covered and then coat in the flax, almond meal, seasonings mix.

7.  Place in oil for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Transfer to a plate with paper towel to absorb excess oils.

8.  Repeat egg and "breading mix" and frying until all pieces of eggplant are done.

9.  Take a large baking dish and place a small amount of sauce on bottom of it.  Begin layering the eggplant on top of the sauce.  Cover each piece of eggplant with some sauce on top.

10.  Cover with foil and bake in oven for 25-30 minutes to further soften the eggplant.

11.  Remove briefly to top with shredded mozzarella cheese to your liking and place back in oven to melt.

Sliced eggplant

Mixing up the "breading"

Fried to perfection!

Add a bit of sauce

Topped with cheese and voila!

Serve with Dreamfields pasta, a large side salad or any other veggies you'd like.  This recipe is a keeper for sure!

I plan on posting an update on my personal weight loss journey shortly.  No really, I promise! Soon!
~Carly