Italian Aubergine and Dirty Rice

This doesn’t look very exciting, but I can assure you that it was flavorful way beyond its appearance. It was lunch time, just walking in the door from a medical ordeal – and boy, were we hungry!

Available items were skimpy, so I had to become Super Chef very quickly.  A bit of Spanish Rice was enriched with Italian sausage (which I keep cooked up and frozen in small little balls).  Happily there were also two of the aubergine slices covered in cheeses and Italian tomato sauce from a few nights previous, just begging to become part of this delicious lunch.

I whipped out my favorite re-juvenating tool – a 12-inch Calphalon frying pan – added about a tablespoon of water and heated it up.  The water keeps it from getting too hot, but you need to watch it so that it doesn’t all go up in steam.

When it was hot, I added the Spanish Rice and Italian sausage, and got it almost crispy.  Meanwhile, I put the aubergine in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds, just to get it heated through.  This saves time getting it hot in the frying pan, and lessens the possibility of burning the bottom of the eggplant

I sprayed the whole thing with a good dose of distilled water from my spray bottle, covered the pan, turned the heat down, and let everything come to an agreeable temperature – which took about ten minutes, checking from time to time with great anticipation.

A little extra salsa on the rice, and a good amount of shaved Parmesan on top of the aubergine – et voilá – we feasted!