Breaded Eggplant and Polenta Stack

I really don’t know where the idea for this came from other then Heather asking me, “Did you make that polenta yet?” I had polenta. I had eggplant. Add some sauce and something green and you have dinner.

• 2-4 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 medium organic eggplant
• I cup of Italian dressing (preferably fat free)
• 1-2 cups of panko bread crumbs (spread in a large bowl or on a plate)
• 1 tube of polenta
• 1 cup of spinach
• 1 sliced tomato

 Sauce

• 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 clove of garlic
• ¼ cup fresh or dried basil
• 1 tbls oregano
• Of course you can skip this part and buy a premade sauce, I love Everyday 365 Eggplant Marinara

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook desired amount of brown rice according to package directions.

Lightly spray a baking dish with a cooking spray or spread some safflower oil on the dish.

Slice eggplant into round pieces about ¼ – ½ inch thick. Individually dip each slice in Italian dressing, letting excess dressing drip off. Press eggplant into the bowl or plate of bread crumbs. After lightly coating each side, set in baking dish. Repeat until all pieces are covered and placed in baking dish.

Bake at 400, flipping eggplant over after 12-15 minutes. After flipping, bake an additional 10 minutes or until bread crumbs look toasted.

Bake polenta alongside eggplant, flipping at the same time you flip eggplant.

Lay brown rice on plate then begin to alternate eggplant, spinach, tomatoes, and polenta. Use sauce as desired. (We topped each eggplant with sauce before adding spinach and polenta then added additional sauce to rice.)