lower carb chunky veggie & meat eggplant parmesan

How To Make lower carb chunky veggie & meat eggplant parmesan

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  These are the main ingredients used to make this dish. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Some of these pictures are not as clear as most of my pictures are, because I had to take pictures with my phone from my I Pad, because I could not get it to download to the computer from the I Pad, so I apologize.
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  Cut the veggies into large pieces & process in the food processor, or chop by hand.
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  This is what the processed vegetables looked like after being processed in the food processor.
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  I used Viva coconut flour to bread the eggplant as opposed to bread crumbs.
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  Beat eggs in a shallow dish with fork, then add eggplant slices and coat both sides.
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  Using another dish add in SOME of the coconut flour,then transfer some of the dipped eggplant slices from the egg dish into the coconut flour, and coat both sides.
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  Spray a jelly Roll type shallow pan with nonstick cooking spray, then transfer the coated eggplant slices to prepared pan, and place in a single layer. Repeat until all the slices have been dredged in coconut flour and added to pan. Sprinkle with smoked Paprika. This helps it to brown.
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  Place the eggplant slices in preheated 425 degree F oven and bake until lightly browned or about 35 to 40 minutes. Then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
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  Now it is time to prepare the meat sauce, add the chopped vegetables and the ground chuck to a large pot. Cook until meat is no longer pink, then drain excess liquid if desired, and return meat back to the pot.My excess liquid was mostly vegetable juice so I kept it to add extra flavor. NOTE:I DID NOT DRAIN MINE, I LEFT AS IS, AND USED THE TOMATO PASTE TO THICKEN THE EXCESS LIQUID THAT WAS IN THE POT, INSTEAD OF ADDING EXTRA WATER TO THE SAUCE. THIS CREATED A THICK AND RICH SAUCE.
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  Now add in diced tomatoes, pasta sauce, and tomato paste,& SPICES AS DESIRED TO TASTE.
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  Stir to blend into ground beef mixture, and cook over low heat to allow flavors to blend about 45 minutes. Meat sauce is very thick because I used very lean ground beef.
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  Assemble dish by spraying casserole dish first with nonstick cooking spray, then adding a layer of meat sauce on the bottom, then top with grated Parmesan cheese, then add a layer of the baked eggplant slices, top with a hearty layer of the meat sauce,, then add the grated parmesan layer & next a layer of fresh mozzarella, then freshly shredded Parmesan cheese More eggplant slices and a final layer of the meat sauce and top with the grated Parmesan and finely shredded mozzarella cheese. Then place in preheated oven and bake in preheated 350 degree F oven until casserole is hot and bubbly around the edges, about 35 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the other casserole dish.
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  I gave the second dish to my daughter. Note you can add the layers as you wish there is no certain way to add the layers of ingredients. WHEN I GO THROUGH THIS MUCH WORK TO MAKE ONE OF OUR FAVORITES, i ALWAYS TRY TO MAKE EXTRA EITHER TO SHARE WITH SOMEONE, OR STORE IN THE FREEZER ON A DAY WHEN I DON'T FEEL LIKE COOKING. You may also want to cut this recipe in half, but we never have any left for very long.
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  If you can wait until this sets up completely you will get nice uniform servings, but I could hardly wait. Here is the nutritional Information for this dish, it still may seem like a lot but in contrast to my original recipe this dish is significantly less in all of the nutritional elements. You still can't eat it everyday, but it is good when you have been waiting with anticipation to have a nice dish of EGGPLANT PARMESAN. This recipe has 567 LESS calories per serving than my 3 meat Eggplant Version and it taste fantastic. CALORIES PER SERVING 411, Makes 2 casserole dishes, Fat 23 g, Cholesterol 94Mg, Sodium 840 Mg, Potassium 490Mg, Total Carbs 29 G, Fiber 10g, NET CARBS 19 G, SUGARS 13 G, & PROTEIN 26 G. This nutritional analysis was calculated using MY FITNESS PAL. To figure out net carbs, you subtract the grams of fiber from the total carbs. This dish also has 1,285 Mg Sodium LESS THAN MY ORIGINAL RECIPE for 3 Meats Eggplant Parmesan. The NET CARBS IS 19 IN THIS DISH VERSUS 33 IN MY OTHER RECIPE.
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