INGREDIENTS
3 large eggplants
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (10.75 ounce) can tomato puree
1/4 cup water 1 pinch ground black pepper
2 (8 ounce) containers plain fat free yogurt
1/4 cup wheat germ or whole wheat breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
1. Slice the eggplants into 1/4 inch slices and lightly salt them. Leave them to sweat for 30 minutes. While the eggplant are set aside, saute the onions, garlic, and olive oil in a large skillet over a low heat, covering the pan with a lid to keep them moist. Saute the onions until they are soft and turning gold in color.
2. Mix the basil, oregano, tomato puree, water, salt and pepper into the pan of onions and simmer for ten minutes. While the mixture is simmering, rinse off the eggplant slices and steam them either in a microwave steamer basket (in two batches at 10 minutes each) or in a steamer over the stove.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-aerosol cooking spray.
4. Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of the tomato sauce-mixture over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange one layer of the eggplants on the bottom of the dish. Pour one third of the tomato sauce over the eggplant.
5. Pour one container of yogurt over the tomato sauce. Repeat the eggplant layer, tomato sauce, yogurt, eggplants, and top the dish with the remaining tomato sauce.
6. Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle the wheat germ or breadcrumbs over the top of the casserole, followed by the Parmesan cheese. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes; until topping is golden brown.
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 147 Total Fat: 3.6g Cholesterol: 4mg Sodium: 677mg Total Carbs: 24.8g Dietary Fiber: 6.8g Protein: 7g
To Make Core: Leave out wheat germ/bread crumps and cheese. Or just count the points.
Notes:
I only used two eggplants and it ended up being just enough. So, clearly the recipe was thinking that eggplants weren't ginormous. One more would have been too much. I've seen those really skinny eggplants - so if that's what you find, you'll need three.
Read this recipe carefully - and you'll realize it takes some time to make this. 30 minutes to sweat the eggplant, 20-30 minutes of steaming the eggplant, and the making of the tomato sauce (you could totally cheat and buy a jar - but for core folks, that isn't an option). Not to mention chopping and assembling - I started this recipe around 12 and didn't eat until 2. However - the recipe was totally worth it, and I will make this a lot in the future.
This is what I did: Cut the eggplant, let it sweat for 30 minutes. While eggplant sweated, chopped up the onions for tomato sauce - made the sauce. By the time I was finished with that -it was time to steam the eggplant.
If you don't feel like waiting this long for a dinner to get ready - I would suggest doing the sweating and steaming and saucemaking the night before - then just assemble it the day you want it. If you hate that idea more - then cube the eggplant and saute it with salt (you'll still probably have to do it in rounds).
