i'm two decades old?! let's celebrate!

i still cannot believe that i turned 20.

 its weird for me to celebrate a birthday away from home, because i am such the kind of person that loves tradition and looks forward to celebrating the same way every year.  a birthday in my household has several special traditions:  the birthdayperson gets to pick what we have for dinner, the kind of dessert, and gets to use the "You are Special Today" plate (which is crucial).  since this year my birthday fell over fall roll (my a cappella group goes on tour), i was lucky enough to be serenaded by three different (hot) male a cappella groups at the Ivys and spent the day with my Belles. but it still wasn't exactly the same, so i went home the next weekend for a delayed celebration.

after a hellish train ride (never, ever ride amtrak), i got home and my mom and i went to pick out my cake from our favorite bakery.  the next morning we got up and hit the grocery to gather the ingredients for my special birthday dinner-- Eggplant Lasagna.  YUM.  it is completely vegetarian and we decided to add all sorts of other veggies to it in addition to eggplant, so it was very healthy to boot.  (fun fact-- eggplant is a berry!)

before i begin, i would like to give photo credit to my lovely mother, as she snapped these shots while she cooked and i went shopping :]

the idea behind this eggplant lasagna is that we replace the pasta (gasp!  me, replace pasta?!) with thin slices of roasted eggplant and other sauteed veggies.  the ricotta and marinara sauce doesn't change, don't worry!

she started by getting four large eggplants and slicing them in to about 3/4 of an inch thick slices (remember--they roast down in the oven, so cut them thicker to begin with!).  she brushed them with olive oil and put them in the oven to roast until they were tender (about half an hour or so).



in the mean time, she took a large yellow and a large green zucchini, cut them in half moons, and sauteed them until slightly tender.  she did the same thing next with an entire pint of button mushrooms, and set all the veggies aside.

then comes the fun part:  layering!

in the bottom of a large baking dish, she added a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes along with about two cups of good marinara sauce (this acts as the base so the lasagna doesn't stick to the bottom!).











next goes all the eggplant in a full layer, spread out evenly.  after the eggplant goes on, put a layer of the zucchini and mushrooms right on top (shown farther down).  make sure to save half of the zucchini for the top layer!










then comes the good stuff--- the ricotta.  she added some fresh cracked pepper and some dried oregano to the mixture before plopping it on top of the zucchini and mushroom layer.  spread it out evenly with a spoon.

lastly, add the rest of the zucchini and mushrooms along with the rest of the jar of marinara sauce (or make your own, of course!)  sprinkle the whole beautiful lasagna with parmesan cheese, cover with tin foil, and pop it in the oven.  **note:  why not cover this with mozzarella or shredded cheeses?  wait until the lasagna has mostly baked through first.  then, when you take the tin foil off in the last 15 minutes of baking, cover it with cheese and put it back in uncovered.  this way the cheese wont stick to the foil and come completely off your lasagna!**

the lasagna goes in to bake for about 40, covered, and 15 uncovered.  just check it closer to the end and test the center with a fork-- if it is hot and bubbly, you're all set!  here's what it looks like when it comes out:

in addition to this masterpiece, we had garlic bread and a wonderful salad with herbs and dressed with simple oil and vinegar dressing, courtesy of my grandmother :]

the table was set and with all the food on the table, we were READY to dig in!

finally, birthday cake time!  from the bakery we picked up my favorite:  cherry almond cake.  divine.

good food, beautiful weekend at home, great family, and another great year.  i'd say my birthday was a total success :]