Do y’all remember when I posted about Eggy?
About the 17 Day diet, our successes and my complete lack of inspiration for what to do with eggplant that fit into The 17 Day Diet parameters.
Little did I know… there’s a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan in the back of The 17 Day Diet book.
My brother started raving about it, another friend who has had amazing success with the diet, also raved about the recipes.. so I threw caution to the wind and decided that I had little to lose (if you’ll excuse the pun) by experimenting with this spongy-purpley-black veggie
I can’t be the only one who wants to put googly eyes and ears on them… they just remind me of little purple piglets.
This recipe called for 1 C low carb marinara sauce, I have yet to understand why anyone buys spaghetti/marinara/red sauce when it is so unbelievably simple to make
2 (1-lb) Cans of Petite Diced Tomatoes – 1/2 a large onion, chopped – 7 garlic cloves, minced and 1 1/2 TBSP of your favorite garlic seasoning (I am partial to Zatarain’s Big and Zesty Garlic and Herb Seasoning – and I have been since LOOOONG before I started partnering with them) sweat the onions, add the garlic and tomatoes and seasoning and simmer for 30 minutes to all day. No matter what you pair this with – it will be devoured.
This was my secret weapon for this unknown dish – This 17 Day Diet Purple Spongy Veggie Thing – I knew that no matter what I put this sauce on – it would be edible.
Caution. Meet the wind, and prepare to be tossed.
The first time I made this, I completely made it according to the book – we ate it.
The second time, I adjusted it according to our preferences and we ate it and enjoyed it.
The book suggests pressing the 1/4″ eggplant slices into the fat free parm cheese to coat – in our opinion, this is too much.
I sliced the eggplant 1/4″ thick – dipped it into the frothy egg whites
and lightly pressed both sides into fat free parmesan cheese (yes, the shaker kind) that I had mixed with a bit of paprika and fresh ground pepper.
Spray a vented pan with baking spray and bake at 400 °F for 20 minutes, turn and bake for 10 minutes.
Top with your delicious tomato sauce and serve
17 Day Diet Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 Large Eggplant peeled and sliced into 1/4" rounds
- 4 egg whites
- Fat Free Parmesan Cheese
- 2 C favorite tomato sauce please make your own, it's so easy and so much yummier
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400°F
- Mix Fat Free (shaker) Parmesan Cheese with a couple dashes, paprika and fresh ground parmesan cheese.
- Peel the eggplant and slice into 1/4" thick rounds
- Whisk the egg whites until frothy
- Dip the eggplant slices into the egg whites until coated - lightly dip each side into the parmesan cheese mixture and lay on a vented broiler sheet
- Put in 400°F oven for 20 minutes, flip and bake another 10 minutes
- Serve topped with your homemade tomato sauce
I love eggplant parmesan (in fact I had some at a restaurant for lunch yesterday!) and your version sounds so much better for me than the traditional one. It looks so delicious with your lovely marinara sauce too. It’s funny, I never knew what to do with eggplant either, and then once I started cooking it a year or so ago and realised how delicious it is, I can’t get enough of it!
April – it was REALLY good! I’ve only ever had eggplant in Ratatouille and I had no idea what I’d think.. I was impressed and I will make it again!
Good Monday morning. We linked up a wonderful Italian recipe. Eggplant caponata! Come visit us.
Hey sweet! I love that we both did Eggplant recipes this week!!!
I made this tonight using fat free parm (the shaker kind). Personally the cheese had no taste so we used some garlic powder, paprika, and a little salt and pepper. I cut the slices much thicker and baked at 400 for 30 minutes and then flipped and did another 10. It was absolutely delicious, my kids even enjoyed it (7 and 3).
Hi,
I shared a recipe for Courgette Al Dante!, roasted eggs and amazing macaroons.
Join the fun! My giveaway for a set of 3 bamboo cutting boards!
http://realfoodforager.com/giveaway-set-of-3-bamboo-cutting-boards-20-00-value/
Thanks for hosting!
Hey Jill – Your Macaroons look amazing! Thank you for all your information and yumminess every week!
Your Eggplant Parmesan looks delicious. Hope you have a wonderful week and thanks for hosting!
Miz Helen
Hope your week is wonderful, Miz Helen!
Huh. I guess I never really knew what eggplant parmesan WAS!
I abandoned the 17-day diet pretty quickly, but I’ve stuck with low-carb for a few weeks now, and it’s great! I’ve lost 9 lbs and have completely changed the way I eat. (for the most part. Feel free to act like you don’t see the Oreo cake I linked up today!) Anyway – thanks for another healthy recipe!
Eggplant parmesan is my favorite eggplant dish!
Thanks for hosting the linky! I linked up to my absolute favorite meatball recipe.
Looks delish! I didn’t make that one from the book, but I did make chicken parmesan, almost identically. Yum!
I soooo fell off the 17 day diet, but I’m back to it today.
Sharing our recipe for molasses apple-nut muffins (can eat on (phases 3 & 4 of the diet), but non-dieters can eat them any day. 🙂
Thanks for hosting! ~Lisa
This looks delicious & so simple!
Ok, I know I shouldn’t judge but … fat free parm? How exactly does that happen? And what does it taste like? I’m sort of afraid of eggplant, too, but … moussaka makes it better. That’s about the only way I’ve ever eaten it actually. Glad you found a way to make this fit your tastes. I’m like you in that I never keep anything as written.
LOL 😉 I adore you.
I used (wait for it) shaker parm.. I know. It kinda stunk while cooking – but actually tasted really good – when it wasn’t hyper coated.
I’m not a diet, but I’d looooooooove to eat your Eggplant-Parmesan anytime!
Thanks for hosting this party and hope you’re having a wonderful holiday
Winnie
This is Melissa’s favorite snack! I end up making it about once a week, so I’m definitely going to give it a try this way.
Oh – I love this eggplant dish! So simple and really highlights the eggplant. Great way to diet!
Question, what is a vented pan?
Hey Rachel! Sorry I’m a bit late linking up this week. Easter was wonderful, but a bit chaotic around here! ;~) That eggplant parm looks amazing! I never would have thought it could be done in a healthy way and still look and taste so good. LOL Definitely gonna have to pin this one. Thanks so much for hosting and have an awesome week! ~Mary
Thanks for hosting another wonderful link party! I can’t wait to check out all the other blogs. Have a great week.
Hugs,
Michelle
This looks delicious & so simple! I never would have thought it could be done in a healthy way and still look and taste so good. Thanks for another healthy recipe!
Oh my gosh, how good does this look!? I love eggplant parmesan but always have trouble picturing it without any breading. I love that this recipe uses straight cheese (and the egg whites are a brilliant add in). I am going to try this for sure.
Hey sweet Aggie!
Let me know if you do make it, and what you think! MIss your lovely self 🙂
It’s a GREAT post!!! I’ll tell this to my friends!!! They’re on diet now…I feel thankful that there is someone like you providing such a helpful info for us here!! Thank you!!!
This recipe sounds delicious, but it is NOT the 17 Day Diet Recipe. If you are on the diet, and are staying true to it, do NOT use this recipe. Use the recipe in the book.
You are too good a woman to eat off the shelf Parmesan Cheese. Plus, it’s an excitotoxin – literally blows up brain cells. This recipe, however, is excellent for the brain and super easy to make – tasty too! I’m a certified raw food chef and here’s how we make it:
Parmesan Cheese
1 Cup raw Almonds
1/4 Cup ground Golden Flax
1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast (available at Whole Foods)
1 to 2 cloves of Garlic
2 teaspoons of Sea Salt
Directions:
In a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, blend almonds, garlic, and salt until fluffy.
Whisk in the ground golden flax and nutritional yeast.
Store in the refrigerator in a sealed glass container for up to 2 months (if it lasts that long!).
** Note – you can buy ground flax, but without refrigeration it goes rancid pretty quickly. It’s super easy to grind your own. Buy it from bulk containers at a Whole Foods type store and grind in a coffee grinder or Magic Bullet.
Thank you for the heads up and recipe, Skye!
This is actually the only recipe that we use that shaker parm for. We are certified REAL freshly grated parm users 😉 I’m very interested to try your version!
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and share your recipe!
Happy 2014! Rachel
I made this while I was on the diet but continue to make it to this day. The only thing I did different, which I think the book calls for, I sprinkled granulated garlic on the eggplant before baking. It was yummy and crisped up just a little bit but softens when you put the marinara on it. Gotta say I never tried it with fat-free Parmesan though.