3 for 3: eggplant parmesan

Ohhh yeah.  I am on fire in the kitchen lately.  Okay not lately, but it is definitely helps me get back into wanting to cook real dinners more often when new things keep turning out well.  Hooray hooray hooray.

So on to the actual recipe: Eggplant Parmesan from Cooking Light.  I mean really at this point I feel like Cooking Light should move in.  Or something.  Once the weather gets cold and I start wanting all things creamy and comforting and cheesy (you have no idea how hard it is to not make my feta mashed potatoes and eat bowls of them - and only them - for lunch...) I think Cooking Light becomes an even bigger factor in my life because they help take those typical meals and plain ol make them better.

Cooking Light

Mine

There they are!  Mine aren't as saucy for some reason (I used the amounts it said to use) but I think I'm okay with that because sometimes too much sauce can just ruin it.  Plus I didn't put basil sprigs on top because I'm really not that big of a basil fan.  One drawback: the amount of time cooking takes.  The eggplant has to cook 30 minutes before it becomes eggplant parmesan which then has to cook 45 minutes so yeah, maybe not a week night meal?

Notes:

- I cut the recipe in half because I pretty much always have to cut recipes in half

- Good luck finding whole wheat panko crumbs - I've looked just about every time I go to the store and there are plain panko crumbs and whole wheat bread crumbs, but never are the too combined (so I used plain panko crumbs since they're crispier)

- I did get the fancy freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, but as for that fontina cheese, I got plain on Sargento 6-cheese Italian mix - believe it or not, fontina was actually in that mix

- I still need to get those cute baking dishes

- Make sure you have aluminum foil or else you'll end up like me: ready to put that baby in the oven only to realize you have no aluminum foil, freak out, and then make a mad dash to the store (inconvenient, but not the end of the world)

To sum it up: it's super yummy, super comforting, and pretty easy all in all.  It would just be better on a weekend day when time isn't so much an issue.

Click here for the recipe!

Oh and PS: Tom didn't eat any.  I felt guilty about the whole aluminum foil thing so I made him eat some chicken he made last night without me, but I'll try to get him to eat some tomorrow night to get his opinion too.  He might be a tough critic because supposedly he's eaten the best eggplant parm in all of New York.  Yikes. That's a lot of pressure.