Chicken and eggplant—but not together

 

Eggplant parmagiana
The stack fell over, but that didn't affect the taste. Scrumptious but rich!

For some time now, I’ve been exploring alternatives to rotisserie chicken for use in casseroles and salads. Rotisseries chickens are expensive, but more than that, they are usually loaded with sodium and other flavorings. Plus I find boning them a pain, though Jordan has taught me that they are much easier to bone when they are warm from the store rather than cold from the refrigerator.

Years ago I used to put a piece of frozen chicken—I bought bags of it at Sam’s—in the microwave with salt, pepper, and a slice of onion. Add a dash of bouillon, cover, and microwave. That was when I had teenagers to feed, not much time, and a microwave. Now I realize that was compressed chicken, not real breast pieces, the teenagers are grown, and I have no microwave. When I first gave up rotisserie products, I poached but the chicken was tough. Then I learned there were better ways to poach—barely simmering for ten or fifteen minutes. Better. Then I saw yet another method, which I tried recently for a Cobb salad. Bring a pot of water, covered, to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat, slide the chicken breast into the water and cover. Leave for at least 25 minutes. The chicken was tender, but so pale it had little eye appeal and the flavor was sort of bland.  

So yesterday I was following an old recipe (you can tell by the look of the paper) for a chicken and blue cheese composed salad. It called for coating the chicken breast pieces with cooking spray, salt, and pepper. No kidding? Spray it? My first idea was to put olive oil in the skillet as usual, but then I thought if I was following a recipe, I should do it all the way. I sprayed and used a heavy hand with salt and pepper. I did not pound or flatten the breasts. Once they were suitably browned, I put them on a sheet pan, covered it with foil, and baked (I don’t have an appropriate covered dish in my small kitchen or I wouldn’t have resorted to foil). Although the recipe didn’t call for drippings, I added a bit to the pan. Baked it 15 minutes at 350 and as soon as it cooled, whisked it into the fridge. At dinnertime, I sliced it on a slant, and came up with lovely pieces for a salad. At least for the time being, that’s my preferred method.

The salad I made last night? Tear up some lettuce, dice a green onion, slice a bit of cucumber. Put that in a bowl and dress with vinaigrette. I didn’t like the recipe dressing—olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and mustard was too sweet. Next time I’ll make an oil and lemon dressing. Divide the salad evenly among plates, top with sliced chicken and sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese.

Wow! I had no idea I had so much to say about chicken. The recipe I meant to share this week is for a quick Eggplant parmigiana, and I stole it from Martha Stewart. Eggplant parmigiana is a chore to make and no one else here will touch eggplant, so I was delighted to find this quick method. You have to start this the night before. Here’s what you need (serves two):

1 medium eggplant

Salt and pepper

Thick tomato sauce (I used crushed tomatoes, Pomi label)

Sliced mozzarella

Parmesan

Italian herb seasoning

Bread crumbs

The night before serving, slice the eggplant into six slices, lay slices out on paper towels on a sheet pan, and salt lightly. Cover and refrigerate. Next day, rinse slices and pat dry.

Heat oven to 400. Replace paper towel with parchment paper. Brush each slice with olive oil and bake 20 minutes.

Make two stacks: eggplant slice, mozzarella slice, tomato sauce, sprinkling of Italian herbs, salt and pepper, and Parmesan; repeat layer, ending with third piee of eggplant. Cover that top slice with fresh bread crumbs. You may want to use toothpicks to hold stacks upright.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Martha says you can serve hot or warm.

Eggplant stacks ready to go in the oven.