The Pretty Purple Vegetable

Eggplants have got to be the most beautiful vegetables. They are such a pretty purple. Maybe my favorite color in fact.

I cannot count the number of times I have passed eggplants in the grocery store, sometimes even stopped to pick one up and examine it, only to regretfully put it back down because I have no idea what to do with it. A few years ago I promised myself that I, Shannon Owen, would one day cook with eggplant. The only thing I have every heard of with eggplant in it is Eggplant Parmesan, and well I do not like Chicken Parmesan. This presented a challenge that has been in the back of my mind for years.

Now that I am on my own and cooking for just myself, I have the opportunity to try out new foods that I never would have been able to try at home because of my picky little sister (Post about my family coming soon).

After lots of time looking, I finally found a recipe that was not Eggplant Parmesan that seemed promising, but I still was not convinced. Then God showed that it was clearly his will I make this recipe.

How did He do that? The same day I found above mentioned recipe two things happened:

1. I got off work at 5:45pm so I had time to go to the grocery store = Miracle!
2. Kroger had eggplant on sale for $.99

The Recipe - Eggplant Pizza

It is very rare that I make a recipe as is, and this recipe was no exception.

Changes
- I used Classico Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo instead of pizza sauce.
- I topped mine with mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, and precooked Jimmy Dean sausage.

I was going to add mushrooms, but as hard as I tried I could not get the jar of mushrooms open. It was a sad moment. My friend Amanda suggested I get a jar opener. I informed her I preferred my jar openers tall, dark, and handsome.

When I got these babies out of the oven they smelled so good. I popped two on my plate and sat down to watch How to Train Your Dragon.

I was completely amazed at the deliciousness of these cute little pizzas. They were not just "everything that is covered in cheese is good" good, but genuinely amazingly yummy! I was floored and cannot wait to make them again!

This success with Eggplant will inevitably lead to more eggplant experiments. I am very excited about exploring my new favorite vegetable.

And How to Train Your Dragon was not bad either. Toothless was my favorite.

*UPDATE*

I made Eggplant Pizza again for dinner tonight. This time I used a Mushroom Alfredo sauce and added a fresh basil leaf and drum roll please.... I took a picture.