Quickie Eggplant Parmesan

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I recently ordered groceries delivered from Natooura. They arrived yesterday, and I was up to my neck in vegetables. I had ordered way too much produce, but boy, was their radicchio worth it. Beautiful! It is called Grumolo, Variegated.

I decided to make a list of everything that was delivered and cook the most perishable first. It would be too much work to find recipes and cook something complicated, so I roasted the green beans with sesame oil, a la an old Moosewood /Mollie Katzen staple recipe. Inspired by a page in Jerusalem by Ottolenghi for Roasted cauliflower & hazelnut salad, I roasted my cauliflower. I figured I could compose a similar salad with said radicchio, and baby spinach that were part of the delivery. I also roasted some Forono Beets, and decided to save the Badger Flame Beets for later. After all, beets last in the fridge for quite a long time.

I know I have read advice somewhere that one should always prepare groceries for use upon getting them home, so it felt good to follow through. I also was inspired by a recent IGTV session with comedian, actor, and WTF host, Marc Maron. After engaging in some self-loathing subsequent to eating many holiday treats such as chocolates, cakes, and always his beloved go-to ice-cream, he got his food act together and did a lot of cooking. When he opened his refrigerator and showed us all sorts of containers of prepared cooked vegetables and even one of mujadara (a classic Arabic recipe featuring cooked lentils and rice, caramelized onions, herbs and yogurt), I was impressed.

So let's get down to it. After washing some baby spinach and radicchio and storing then in a bowl for quick salad ingredients, it was time to deal with the two wonderfully fresh eggplants in my veggie bin. There were a few recipes on the NYT food website for quick and easy eggplant parm dishes. But the two I noted called for frying the eggplant. Too messy, smelly, unhealthy. I chose to thickly slice the eggplant, brushed the slices with olive oil, and roasted them in a 375 degree F. oven for 25 minutes, turning once midway. While the eggplants roasted I sauteed chopped onion, and then added chopped tomatoes which were at the perfect cusp of ripeness. My sauce came together nicely as the eggplant roasted. I then assembled the parm dish by layering eggplant, topped by sauce, topped by a chèvre that came in my Natoora boxes, grated parm, and repeated twice more. The casserole roasted in the oven at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes, and voila, supper was served, with plenty of leftovers to either freeze, or use in the next few days.

If you are more inclined to cook a traditional eggplant, check out an older recipe on Cooking the Kitchen at Old School Eggplant Parmesan. Or if you are looking for an eggplant recipe with a Mid-Eastern twist, check out Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce. But for now, if you don't want to work too hard at it, try today's Quickie Eggplant Parmesan, and enjoy! To all my readers on Cooking the Kitchen, wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year!