Eggplant Parmesan

So I said I was going to find a way to use eggplant last week and I did it! It was pretty delectable too. I mean, how could you not want to taste this beautiful produce?!

It was just calling my name! Maybe because I happen to favor the color purple. especially in clothes! Eggplant and red hair are a perfect combination. But that is besides the point. Even when I went back yesterday to get these little Graffiti Eggplants, I was just staring at the awesome color nature gave them!

I've never cooked Eggplant Parmesan so that was a first. It was very easy and quick too! To be sure that everyone ate though since this was a new food for my family I also made chicken Parmesan. I used StoveTop turkey stuffing instead of bread crumbs because we had too many boxes of that this past weekend that I needed to use up. It worked great! It got nice a crispy in the oven and kept in all of the delicious juices of the chicken and eggplant. 

I'm not sure if it is just Graffiti Eggplants but they had a similar texture to Portabella mushrooms! I totally could have tricked the picky eaters saying that they were but I decided to be truthful. I have been known to not tell the truth about food a lot to get someone to try it haha. I once convinced my brother, Dill, that a cherry tomato tasted like a maraschino cherry. I mean they look alike! I really just wanted to satisfy my own needs of having people try food. (it's a pet peeve of mine when someone won't even TRY it! You can always eat something after that! Geez! lol) Any way, it didn't go over well.. he hated it. And he uses it against me quite often that I do this so I didn't even try. I think I might have pulled that one on all of my siblings come to think of it. 

Well here is the platter of the chicken on the bottom half and the eggplant on the top half. 

Turned out way better than I could have guessed and it was a hit with the family! There was litterally no left overs which is rare for my family! This is a single picture of both. First the Eggplant and then the chicken.

I ate it with a salad because that is plenty of food for me but the fam ended up needed to noodles or something to hold them off. I guess I can understand that. They are some tall people! I'm the shortest of the 6 of us and I'm not that short at 5'6"!!  

Full Disclosure: next time I'll cook the eggplant a little bit longer, it was still pretty firm. I wasn't really sure I wanted to serve it mushy though for everyone's first time eating it!