Homemade Healthy Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan is a great way to get your fill of an unusual vegetable, but traditionally contains a high amount of fat and calories (like any dish high in cheese, eggs and breading will do). To cut the fat, and even reduce the workload on your recipe, skip a few steps and cut out just a couple of ingredients. Read on for the full homemade, healthy baked eggplant parmesan recipe!


Ingredients:

* One whole eggplant, washed and peeled, sliced into 1/2 thick slices (coin shaped)
* 1 teaspoon sea salt
* Homemade marinara sauce
* Fat free or low fat mozzarella cheese (lowfat as opposed to fat free usually melts better)
* 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
* 1 Tablespoon dried basil

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the peeled eggplant on a baking sheet spaced out. Sprinkle the slices with half the amount of salt (1/2 teaspoon) salt, and bake the eggplant slices for 20 minutes.

2. Remove from the oven, turning the slices, and sprinkle the other side with the remainder of salt. Bake the slices for 10 minutes.

3. Allow the slices to cool slightly, then mist the slices with water, or lightly brush them with water. Alternatively, you can use a small amount of olive oil (but the recipe will be slightly higher in fat). Combine the basil with the Italian breadcrumbs. Dip each slice into the breadcrumb mixture, turning and coating each side.

4. Arrange the slices in a glass baking pan overlapping. Top the first layer of eggplant slices with marinara, then cheese. Repeat the layers until the eggplant is used. Bake the eggplant mixture for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese melts and the entree is fully heated. Serve immediately.