Eggplant Parmesan

Remember that fried eggplant I made up and froze a while back? I used some of it to make a small batch of eggplant parmesan last night. I had not frozen it before so I was curious as to how it would turn out. I could not taste the difference between freshly cooking the eggplant and pulling it out of the freezer like I did last night! What a great discovery!

First I made some easy marina sauce. Satueed some onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil, then added a 28 oz. can of pureed tomatoes, a 6 oz. can of tomato paste, a few tablespoons of Italian herbs, a splash of red wine, and some salt and pepper and simmered it for about 30 minutes.

I put a bit of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a shallow baking pan, laid the fried eggplant slices on top, put some grated mozarella on top of that, poured enough sauce on to cover the eggplant, and topped with some grated Parmesan cheese. I just did a single layer since I was only cooking for one and didn't want to be inundated with leftovers. Baked at 350 while I took the dog for a walk.

As it turned out, I had some unexpected company join me for dinner and there was plenty to share, eliminating my fear of too many leftovers.

Chinese Chicken Salad

I was alone for dinner last night and got a craving for a Chinese Chicken Salad. Scoured some cookbooks and couldn't find anything that sounded right, though. The dressing was the crucial part for me and all I could find was one that had mayonnaise in it! Not at all what I think of for Chinese chicken salad, but I decided to play with it a bit, leaving out the mayo. When I went to get the sesame oil I noticed a recipe for Chinese Salad Dressing right on the bottle and it sounded like what I wanted!

3 Tbs soy sauce

1 Tbs rice vinegar

2 Tbs sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

1.5 Tbs mustard powder

I cut up some lettuce, diced some cucumber, went to the garden and pulled up an onion and sliced it, and grated some carrot for the salad and tossed lightly with the dressing. Mmmm! A bit spicy, perhaps, but very much what I had in mind.

Then there was the chicken... I took a boneless, skinless chicken breast and put salt and pepper on it, while I heated up some peanut oil in a frying pan. I took some breadcrumbs and added cumin powder and chili powder to them, then pressed them into the chicken breast. Fried it in the peanut oil over medium heat for a few minutes, then turned it and cooked another few minutes. Perfect! Sliced it into strips and put on top of the salad.

Steak, Fried Onions, and Quick Baked Potatoes

Splurged on some tri-tip steaks that I saw marked down at the meat counter so instead of our Friday pizzas we had barbecued steaks, baked potatoes, and sauteed onions--definitely easier to make than a pizza! For the steaks, I sprinkled garlic salt and seasoned pepper on both sides. I microwaved the potatoes unti they were almost done, then put them in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes just to get the skins the way I like them. The onions were sliced and sauteed in a bit of olive oil. Easiest dinner around.