Polenta Parmesan Muffins

Despite our consistently chaotic schedules, we've become particularly fond of having friends over for dinner on a weeknight. As impractical as it might seem, there's something especially lovely about having a mid-week get-together to which one can look forward, like a miniature weekend halfway through the work week!

(Granted, I work on Sunday most of the time, and thus often part of my "weekend" takes place during the week anyway, but Zach still has a traditional schedule, and I can't really have a proper weekend without him, so I dearly treasure any moments that feel like a true "weekend!")

To further inspire our mid-week soirees, our dear friends Frank and Jen have a schedule that always brings them near our house on Wednesdays, and thus, happily, Wednesday nights with Frank and Jen have reached nearly Tradition status.

This Wednesday night, as we gathered to chat and watch a movie, I fixed a cozy Autumn meal - chili, a spinach salad, and what I had initially thought would emerge as cornbread muffins... However, they turned out so moist, cake-like, and creamy, that Frank immediately noticed their close association to polenta... and thus, feeling like Indiana Joneses of the foodie world, we declared polenta muffins officially discovered.

All in the work of a Wednesday night... :-)

Polenta Parmesan Muffins

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup low fat sour cream

2 T minced chives

2 egg whites

1/2 cup 1% milk

~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat approx. 8 muffin cups with cooking spray or paper liners.

~ In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder.

~ In a smaller bowl, whisk together the Parmesan cheese, sour cream, and chives to make a thick paste.

~ Beat in the egg whites until well combined.

~ Stir in the milk.

~ Fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.

~ Scoop the batter into the muffin cups, and bake for 12 minutes - until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

~ Serve warm, with a dollop of butter or vegan marg...

On the blog this time last year... Mock Crepes!

Oven-Roasted Eggplant Parmesan

This Eggplant Parmesan went to the nutritionist, and discovered she was a healthy dish. She realized she didn't need to be battered and fried to feel good about herself. She learned about the wonders of oven-roasting, which made her feel confident in her vibrant, rich personality. She became close friends with rosemary and garlic, who encouraged her new-found appreciation for her own nutrient potential. She danced into the oven, enlightened and sprightly, and emerged feeling lithe and reborn, bursting with flavor!

This Eggplant Parmesan's creator, Astra, is herself feeling utterly loopy and silly, having worked last night, returned home, and then decided to forgo a nap, but while she is experiencing unexplained urges to rhyme, burst into song, and write silly narratives about personified eggplants, and while she is no longer quite sure about things such as directionality, longitude and latitude, and the difference between the floor and the ceiling, she is quite certain that this light, healthful eggplant casserole she fixed on Sunday night was a tremendous success...

Oven-Roasted Eggplant Parmesan

1 large eggplant

1 T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup red wine

1 (28 oz) can fire-roasted tomatoes

2 tsp za'atar or 1 tsp oregano

2 tsp rosemary

1 tsp basil

1 bay leaf

2 sheets no-boil lasagna noodles

1 cup grated part-skim mozzarella

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

~ Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

~ Slice the eggplant in half length-wise, then thinly slice each half, to create thin half-moons of eggplant.

~ Place the eggplant slices on a baking sheet, coat with olive oil cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

~ Roast the eggplant slices in the upper 1/3 of the oven until they are browned and tender, but still hold their shape well (aka not mushy).

~ Reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees F.

~ In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion is limp and translucent.

~ Reduce the heat to medium, pour in the red wine, and stir for 30 seconds, scraping the bottom of the skillet to remove any browned bits.

~ Stir in the tomatoes, followed by the za'atar or oregano, and the rosemary, basil, and bay leaf. Let the sauce simmer lightly for a few minutes, just until the herbs are fragrant. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.

~ To assemble the eggplant Parmesan, spread a light coating of the tomato sauce across the bottom of an 8X8 baking pan. Place the lasagna noodles on top of the sauce (this will give your final dish a more stable base). Spread 1/3 of the remaining sauce on top of the lasagna noodles. Sprinkle the sauce with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 2 T Parmesan cheese. Layer half of the eggplant slices in the pan next, overlapping them just a bit. Pour 1/3 of the sauce over the eggplant slices, followed by 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 2 T Parmesan cheese. For the final layer, place the remaining half of the eggplant slices, topped with the remaining 1/3 of the sauce, and 1/4 cup Parmesan.

~ Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes - until the top of the dish is golden and bubbling... Let the eggplant Parmesan sit outside of the oven for 10 minutes to set, then serve warm...