EGGPLANT PARMESAN

Eggplant isn’t the most exciting vegetable, but if cooked right, it can be downright delicious. While I love eggplant cooked almost anyway, there’s no doubt that eggplant is best served up Parmesan style — that is coated in breadcrumbs, fried to a crisp and then coated with marinara and cheese. Not the healthiest, but definitely delicious.

My version is pretty standard, but there is one step that makes a huge difference, and I use this step on a lot of veggies. That step is sprinkling with salt before cooking it. Salt draws the moisture out of the eggplant, which is why it is often a soggy mess. This way, you end up with something more on the meaty side, which, in my opinion is how it should be.

The other difference here is that instead of olive oil, I fried the eggplant slices in Ava Jane’s Kitchen Avocado Oil. It has a higher smoke point, and is perfect for frying, so you get firm and crispy eggplant slices without smoking up your house. While I am all for making a marinara sauce from scratch, sometimes a jarred version is just as good, so feel free to use whatever you like.

Serve with your favorite pasta for a traditional route, but it’s also delicious with rice, or other grains.