Baked Couscous with Herbed Summer Squash

I'm into baking grains these days. It started a month ago with doing baked rice. The flavor is much more intense.

Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth or water, divided
• 3/4 cup uncooked couscous
• Cooking spray or 1 Tbsp olive oil
  
• 2 cups sliced yellow squash (about 2 small)
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions - about 2
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/4 cup egg substitute or 1 egg beaten
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 - 6 small fresh mozzarella balls (optional)
  

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Bring 1 cup chicken broth/water to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in uncooked couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray ot olive oil. Add squash, onions, basil, oregano, and garlic; sauté 3 minutes or until squash is tender. Set aside.

Combine couscous, squash mixture, and half of cheese mixture in a large bowl; stir in remaining chicken broth/water, egg, salt, and pepper. Spoon mixture into an 8 x 8-inch baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray. Top with remaining cheese mixture. Place fresh mozzarella balls randomly on top if you using. Bake at 400° for 35 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Eggplant (From the Farmer's Market) Parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan

The sauce and the dish were made from ingredients from the Cherry Creek Farmer's Market that is held on Saturday and Wednesday each week from June - October.
It takes about 2 1/2 hours to make this recipe so make sure that you have the time.

Italian Tomato Sauce

3 tbsp. of olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Saute all the ingredients above in a large pot until the onions are translucent and soft.
Then add the following:

1 - 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 - 6 oz. can of tomato paste
2 tbs. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes
fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup water

Bring to a simmer, cover, turn the heat to low and allow to simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 45 minutes, add 1/2 cup of Parsley and take off the heat.

Eggplant Parmesan

1 medium Eggplant sliced in 1/2" pieces
3/4 cup of flour
2 eggs, whisked in a bowl
2 slices of whole grain bread crumbs
olive oil
8 oz. mozzarella cheese sliced thinly
8 oz. grated Parmesan

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Put the flour in a shallow dish, then the eggs next to it in a bowl, then another shallow dish of the bread crumbs. One at a time dip the eggplant slices into the flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and 4 at a time fry the eggplant about 2 minutes on each side and then set onto a plate. Once all the eggplant is cooked begin layering the dish.
Take an 8 x 8 baking dish. Layer 4 eggplant then a layer of the sliced mozzarella, then some sauce, then the Parmesan. There should end up being 3 layers.

Cover with foil, cook covered for 20 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes. Let dish sit for 10 minutes before serving.

4 huge servings.