Spicy Eggplant Sauce

My sister works at a publishing company so sometimes she's able to get me some books for free. It's especially great when they are cookbooks. A lot of them are from Good Housekeeping. I love their books because they have a lot of different recipes with a picture for every one! A picture may not be a reliable source of how tasty a recipe will be, but I like seeing what it should resemble at the end. Recently, I got a vegetarian cookbook from Good Housekeeping. I probably have half the book marked with post-its! I had my eye on this Polenta with Spicy Eggplant Sauce recipe for a while and finally got to make it as I had half an eggplant left from an eggplant parmesan sandwich I made a while ago. Instead of making the polenta though, I decided to use the eggplant sauce as filling for a wrap. I used Flatout Flatbread Wraps, which, by the way, are amazing. Maybe not so much for hot fillings. My wrap idea ended up being an epic fail because the wrap got a bit soggy and couldn't hold up to the heat. But for other cold fillings such as hummus or whatnot, it's great. It is so soft and tastes so good. I don't know about the availability of these because I've only just come across them at Target, but I will definitely have to get these every time I'm there!



The original recipe serves four but I made it for two since it was just me and my sister for lunch. It also calls for 28 ounces of canned stewed tomatoes (for 4 servings), but I had spaghetti sauce that I wanted to use up so I replaced the tomatoes with that. And to make it a more protein-packed meal, I added chicken. I don't think I made too significant changes, but nevertheless tasty! I love me some eggplant.



Spicy Eggplant Sauce [Makes 2 servings]
From Vegetarian Meals by Good Housekeeping

- 1 lb eggplant
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder (or 1/2 clove garlic)
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast (diced or you can shred it with two forks after it's cooked)
- 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce

1. Dice the eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 20 minutes or so to let out bitter juices.
2. Cook the chicken breast (and shred at this point if you desire) and set aside. In the same pan chicken was cooked, add onion and garlic powder and cook until translucent on medium heat.
3. Rinse the eggplant lightly to wash off salt and add to pan. Cook with onions for 8 minutes. Add red pepper flakes (and salt, if necessary) and cook for about 1 minute.
4. Add spaghetti sauce and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 8 minutes. Check frequently if more water needs to be added so the sauce doesn't become too dry.
5. Remove cover and simmer for 2 more minutes so sauce thickens. Add more water if necessary, starting with 1/4 cup.