Purple Power

It's time to get serious...about eggplant.

How did I not know about the deliciousness of eggplant until I was in graduate school?

Who knows, but I am really enjoying getting to know this purple plant.

In fact, I made an eggplant dish twice this week!  They were very similar with a few different tastes.

Eggplant by itself might be a little much, but serving it on top of whole wheat pasta with cheese and sauteed vegetables might be more palatable to you.

You will need:

-1/2 box whole wheat pasta

-3-4 sun dried tomatoes, chopped

-1/2 red onion, sliced

-1/4 cup feta cheese

-olive oil

-1/2 eggplant, peeled and sliced 

-1/3 cup mozzarella cheese

-1 cup flour

-1 egg

-favorite seasoning (I used a mix of garlic, pepper, parsley, and lemon peel)

Boil your pasta and set aside in a 9x9 baking dish.

Heat your oil in a pan and add sun dried tomatoes and onions.  Saute until soft.  Add all contents of the pan (including the oil) to the noodles.  Mix in feta cheese.

Heat more oil in your pan.  Add seasonings to flour.  Dip eggplant slices in egg, cover in flour/spice mixture, and add to hot, oily pan.  Brown the eggplant on both sides and place on top of noodles.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Pretty delicious, huh?  And this made great leftovers for lunch the next day!

Tonight, I tweaked the recipe a bit and tossed the noodles with sauteed onions, lemon juice, and mozzarella cheese only.  I also coated the eggplant in breadcrumbs instead of flour. 

The three of us were quite happy after this meal!

Combine with a walking interval workout, outside or on the treadmill.  If 1 is super easy and 5 is hardly breathing...

First 5 minutes on a 2

Next 5 minutes on a 3

Next 5 minutes on a 4

Peak 5 minutes on a 5

Active recovery for 5 minutes on a 4

Cool down for 5 minutes on a 1-2.