tyrannosaurusreb:

Making Eggplant Parmesan! Baked, not Fried.

This version is super healthy because there’s no added oil and I didn’t use that much cheese because I’m not supposed to be eating food that’s too oily these days.

Things you need:

• Large Eggplant
• Medium Onion
• Some Parsley
• Garlic
• Mushrooms (I used 3 baby crimini mushrooms)
• Tomato Paste
• Bread Crumbs
• An Egg

Start by making the tomato sauce.  Sauté your garlic in a little bit of olive oil then add in a tad of water and some onions until they are semi translucent.  Then, add your tomato paste (I also added diced tomatoes because I like the texture it gives the sauce), mushrooms, and parsley.  Season to taste. I put in oregano, basil, garlic powder, and red chili flakes.  If the sauce is a little tangy, add sugar to balance it out.  Let the sauce hang out at medium heat so all the flavors come out while you prepare your eggplant.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Skin the eggplant, and slice into thin sections.  I quartered the eggplant then sliced.

Crack an egg and mix with a little bit of water.  This is what you’re going to dip your eggplant slices into so that the bread crumbs will stick to them.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray Pam on it.  After breading your eggplant, lay them out on the sheet.  (I used plastic gloves so I wouldn’t crummy fingers!)

Spray another layer of Pam on top of the slices. (This makes them crunchy! Sometimes I just eat the slices that come out like chips dipped in marinara sauce, so good!)

Bake the slices at 350 for 7 minutes on one side, flip them over, and then 7 minutes on the other side.

Take them out and layer them with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. You can use as much or as little cheese as you want.

Bake at 350 for another 20 minutes.

Serve!

Pros: Almost no added oil.  The only time I actually used a little bit of olive oil was in the beginning when I was sauteing the onions with the garlic.  Low carb. There is very little breading on this. If you want a thicker skin, you can double bread the slices, but the really thin layer of breading more than does it for me.  No added salt!