Election Eggplant!

Okay, this post has nothing to do with the election, except that I cooked this dish on Wednesday night in Hong Kong, and it was Wednesday morning here when we all found out the election results. But, I love using alliterative titles for my posts, so I couldn't resist.

One of my favorite things to order at Italian restaurants is eggplant parmesan. It is delicious and filling, but it is also meat-free and therefore hopefully is a little healthier, despite being fried of course. And yet, despite the fact that I frequently cook pasta and Italian-inspired food, I have never made eggplant parmesan myself.

So, for dinner last night, I made it for the first time. I made marinara sauce with carrots and onions, as well as a bit of spicy dried red pepper. Then I cooked some spiral pasta that I already had on hand.

For the main event, I breaded the eggplant with panko bread crumbs after dipping it in milk because I didn't want to buy a whole carton of eggs for one dish. And here in Hong Kong, eggplants are long and skinny and a brighter color of purple, hence the smaller diameter of the eggplant slices. 

It turned out very well, as most of my cooking experiments seem to do. How lucky! However, I would also be interested to try a baked version, like oven-fried chicken, which might be even healthier.