Chicken & Eggplant Casserole

(Originally posted by Blest)

I made this for dinner last night and t’was yummy! I added more zing with some red pepper flakes and more black pepper.  I also thought it needed a skosh more cheese, so I sprinkled on a little more mozzarella when I served it.  Finally, it was a little soupy. I think I’ll drain off some of the tomato juice in the assembly phase next time.  But if you like soupy, don’t mess with it!

Chicken and Eggplant Casserole

• 1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 12 slices
• 2 Tbsps shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped
• 1 can (14.5 ozs) diced tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 C shredded reduced fat mozzarella

Preheat the broiler.

Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on a nonstick baking sheet.  Mist the slices with cooking spray. Broil 4 inches from the heat for 2 minutes, or util golden.  Turn the eggplant over and mist again. Sprinkle with the Parmesan or Asiago cheese and garlic. Broil for 1 minute, or until golden. Set aside.

Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat for 1 minute.  Add the chicken and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes (with juice), onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, Italian seasoning, and black pepper, stirring to break up the tomatoes.  Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees farenheit.

Coat an 8″ baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange 6 eggplant slices in the bottom of the dish. Top with the chicken mixture. Arrange the remaining 6 eggplant slices over the chicken. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and finish cooking, or refrigerate until the next day. Or wrap with foil, label and freeze for up to three weeks. (the intro recommends cooking double so you can bake one and freeze one)

Bake, covered, for 30 minutes, or until heated through. To cook frozen casserole, bake, covered, for 50 minutes or until heated through.

Makes 4 servings   205 calories  26g protein  19g carbs  395g sodium

Note: It seems to me that you could save a little time with a jar of good pasta sauce. Classico, for one, has a sauce or two with no sugar.