You know what I don’t use enough of?
a. My grill pan.
b. My loaf pan.
c. Eggplants.
d. All of the above
If you guessed d, you might already have an idea of what I whipped up for dinner the other night. One of this week’s goals in my fitbook was to try a “Meatless Monday” this week. It had nothing to do with plans to be vegetarian or vegan (I have 3 pounds of pork in the slow cooker right now, and just used bacon grease to cook my beef burger for dinner).
Might as well be a burger. (not.)
Part of the move followed an episode of The Chew from last week, in which the entire hour was devoted to meat-free meals and snacks, which is normally what they mock Daphne Oz for pushing. But as often as I’m laughing AT Daphne and not with her, I like the idea of reducing my carbon footprint. It’s so hot, right now (by it, I mean the Earth… global warming and all).
It was actually easier than I thought it’d be due, in part, to the fact that I can’t resist a good deal on a giant purple fruit tube.
Sorry tube, you go in a tummy
I cut the eggplant into slices and pretended that they were like the noodles in a lasagna. This is especially important to note because I don’t really love lasagna all that much.
But I loved this meal.
Sauce Boss
I loved it even more when the cheese melted.
Loaf Pans are supposed to be full of cheese, veggies, and sauce. Never bread. Is that right?
So I missed that part of the Healthy Living Summit where everyone learned to write perfect, printable recipes. Here’s what you get, instead:
Ingredients
- 8 slices of giant eggplant (cut relatively thick)
- Sauteed spinach (I prefer fresh, but have tried it with frozen and it worked A-ok!)
- Sauteed onions, peppers, or whatever you like (If I ate olives, I bet there would’ve been some in there)
- Mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese
- Sauce (Sockarooni if you’re a smarty)
- Crushed red pepper and oregano
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a loaf pan with some cooking spray (I like the Olive Oil kind)
- Grill those eggplant slices. I did it in olive oil and salt and pepper, on a grill pan.
- Layer them in a loaf pan, four across.
- Top THAT layer with your sauteed spinach and veggies.
- Top THAT layer with a sprinkling of parmesan and mozzarella.
- Repeat steps 2-4 again
- Top the final layer of cheese with a flew blobs of sauce
- Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes-ish, or just check it periodically until you like the “done-ness” of it all.
- Spatula it out of your loaf pan, cover it in crushed reds, and serve!
You should have about 2 servings, so save one for the next day’s leftovers (it just gets better after a night in the fridge).
Certainly won’t be featured in the Joy of Cooking anytime soon, but that’s exactly how I did it.
Hot enough for ya?
What’s your favorite “Meatless Monday” recipe?
Share, it’s a new thing for me! I’m always late to the party (especially when the party has no meat.)
Food, Sweat, and Beers 
You know what, I have never had eggplant. Seriously. Obviously I need to try it. How does eggplant parmesan compare to chicken parmesan?
I’ll be honest, I don’t LOVE either eggplant parm or chicken parm, but I like both eggplant and chicken. I bet they’re similarly delish, though, and my mom ALWAYS orders eggplant parm at Italian spots!
Ummm my sister always complains that eggplant has to be cooked “perfectly” so we rarely order dishes with it. AND we have yet to make a recipe with it. EVER. Personally, I love eggplant and think that needs to change as soon as I go home in less than three weeks.
I’m happy that you’re experimenting with the Meatless Monday concept; I hope you continue to blog about it cause the veg-heads like me can always use some quick/easy meal ideas! I guess every Monday is meatless for me, but a good way to get a hearty meal with protein is a to make a tofu scramble. They are super filling and you can basically throw anything into the pan.
Tofu scares me. That sounds so wussy considering I’ve eaten bugs, chicken heart, and alligator, but until I try it with a seasoned Tofu-Pro, I don’t wanna risk it.
Ooh that eggplant stack looks good!!!
I have been doing meatless Monday for a while now and even my carnivore husband is on board. I’ve discovered SO many meatless recipes that I love, that the meatless theme keeps continuing throughout the week (except when my husband cooks). If you haven’t checked out this book before, it will inspire you to create all kinds of vegan dishes. I’m a little obsessed with it right now: http://www.theppk.com/books/veganomicon-the-ultimate-vegan-cookbook/
Ah, thanks for the tip!! I love that, I’ll have to check it out further for some inspiration for THIS Monday!
mmmmmm. btw, if you use a plugin like ziplist-it makes it super duper easy.
You are wise and owl-like, Cat.