Eggplant Lasagna with a Kumato Salad

I have to get this out of the way before I go any further…You like potato and I like potahto. You like tomato and I like kumato! Potato, potahto…tomato, kumato…Let’s call the whole thing off! I must apologize for the insanity, but that little line was one of those kinds of things that gets in your head and just won’t go away. So, now that I have gotten that out of my system, I feel so much better and can continue with the post.

Anyway, it is getting wilder here at home. We are about to have a house full of guests and a wedding to go along with it. My hubby’s daughter is getting married, so it’s going to be an incredibly stressful 10 days a really fun time! I always get into the “perfectionist” mode when it is time to entertain or have house guests. I start to clean and cook like crazy. Well, I still don’t know why we all clean before house guests. When they all pile in no one can see the dirt anyway. The place needs cleaning far more after they leave, but that is a topic for another post.

As I mentioned, I love to do do all sorts of cooking when we have guests so that I can just have a nibble and everyone else can eat all the fattening foods enjoy the fruits of my labor. Since we are having a wedding, I was thinking of all the good food and desserts that I could make. I knew that I had some dietary restrictions to work around as my hubby’s daughter is a vegetarian. Well then, I realized that I also have a niece who is on a gluten-free diet. Well, sakes alive! This is a toughie. No meat, chicken or fish is one thing, but no wheat products…what can I possibly make?! How about some reservations!

Well, we will be going out to eat some just because it is easier and everyone can have whatever they want without all the stress in the kitchen. However, there is one wonderful dish that will satisfy all of those dietary restrictions (unless, of course, there is something else that no one has told me about…). Eggplant Lasagna. Now, my hubby is supposed to be on a low-fat diet, so he may be getting the short end of this stick, but at least everyone else can eat it. Just please don’t come here and tell me that somebody is lactose intolerant.

I saw this dish on the front cover of Bon Appetit and was excited to try it. I did make some changes (actually, lots of changes). I did not roll the eggplant as the recipe called for. I layered the eggplant slices just like you would lasagna noodles. I left out the mint (even though it made it in my picture). I just wasn’t feeling the love for the mint with the swiss chard. I also added a bit more cheese (it had to taste good) and I did not use plain tomato sauce as the recipe called for. I figured that would be rather bland, so I used a jar of my favorite marinara sauce from Del Grosso. Obviously, you can make you own sauce or use any other jarred sauce. The flavors from the sauce with all the eggplant and the three different types of cheeses were incredible! My hubby didn’t even notice that there was no pasta in the dish until I mentioned that is was eggplant (pretty cool, huh?)!