World Vegetarian Day

Mandatory Credit: Dean Beeler

So as the title reads, today is World Vegetarian Day.

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This day started to be recognized as World Vegetarian Day back in 1977 when the North American Vegetarian Society established and it was endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union in 1978.  This day, being on October 1st also brings about the month of Vegetarian Awareness.

Now I, myself, am not a vegetarian, I personally don’t believe that one person can be complete sustained on a vegetarian diet, I prefer the meat and potatoes aspect of life.  My wife on the other hand is one that has a couple of times tried to move into the vegetarian scene and has kind of settled in the middle as a meat on the side type diet.  There are some foods that she will not eat, but she usually stays away from red meat, but will eat chicken and pork, but will not eat store bought eggs.  Which is fine.  I am in no way trying to tell her or anyone else that a vegetarian diet is wrong, I just think more sustenance is needed.

We will look at one of my favorite vegetarian meals, and I know I said that I am a meat and potatoes person, but that doesn’t mean that is all I eat, I will try just about every food that is put in front of me and my favorite vegetarian dish has to be Eggplant Parmesan.

This recipe has been taken from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 eggplant, peeled and thinly slices

2 eggs, beaten

4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs

6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided

1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.
3. In a 9×13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

This recipe will take about 25 minutes to prep and 35 to cook, so an hour total time from start to finish.