Sorry, esposo...

... but I actually made one of Rachel Ray's recipes. I hear all of you out there groaning in unison. Normally, I'm right there with you. Rachel Ray? I hear you saying. Yes, yes, usually the stuff she makes is nothing I'd want to eat. However. Yesterday she was doing a vegetarian show, and actually the eggplant "steaks" looked ... well, not disgusting, at least.

Here's my dilemma (and I'm sure I share it with a lot of moms out there): I'd like my son to eat something besides pizza, spaghetti, or PBJs for lunch. Son loooooves Rachel Ray. When I accidentally happen upon her show while channel surfing, he's all, "Hey! Stop! It's RACHEL!" Oh jeez, yeah I know kid, I know, I was hoping you wouldn't notice... Yesterday, though, as I said, she was doing a vegetarian show, and I thought, well, why not, maybe I can get a new idea or two for something quick and easy to make that son will actually eat. So we watched it together, and though she kept piling stuff on top of the eggplant, son thought it looked good, and I had everything to make it, so I figured, what the heck.

Of course, me being me, I made some changes. I lightly pan-fried the eggplant (which I cut into rounds, not long "steaks") instead of grilling it (we don't have a stovetop grill pan). I made my own hummus (super easy from a couple of cans of garbanzo beans, the juice of one lemon, fresh parsley, salt & pepper, and garlic, and olive oil to get a creamy consistency; plus, I really prefer making my own stuff like that than buying it). I used fresh spinach instead of frozen (I think it probably retains more vitamins and minerals, and since my anemia has been resurfacing lately, I've been on an eating-lots-of-spinach kick). And actually I made my own breadcrumbs out of toast also, though I thought we had a bag of panko around here, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Oh, and I didn't have roasted red peppers so I left those out and used a tomato instead.

Amazingly, these things were really quite good! Son actually ate TWO of them (how many kids do you know that like eggplant, or spinach, or even hummus for that matter?). I think if you used small eggplants and just the hummus and breadcrumbs, it would make really good party hors d'ouvres. So anyway, try the recipe. It was good. I'll have to hand it to Rachel on this one. Sorry, esposo, I know you can't stomach the woman (heee heee, a pun! a pun!).