Crawfish with Eggplant
This would be Ecrévisses aux Aubergines in Louisiana or French-speaking Québec, but as the lion’s share of my readership is in the U.S. and Canada, I decided the title needed to be in English. This tasty, cheesy, extremely nutritious recipe came together as a result of a couple leftovers in my refrigerator: ½ bag of crawfish tail meat and a few slices of eggplant,. Both were leftover from making my Crawfish al Pesto on Eggplant “Pillows” earlier in the week. All the other ingredients listed below are pretty much always in my pantry and refrigerator/freezer. Whenever I bake low-carb breads or muffins and have a couple leftover, I throw them in a plastic bag and freeze them for just such casserole “filler” use. This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets, however it is not suitable for Primal-Paleo as written. Be sure to notice the impressive nutritional info on this dish!
INGREDIENTS:
3 T. unsalted butter
1 T. extra light olive oil
6 oz. crawfish tail meat (I use Boudreaux’ brand, frozen)
2 oz. onion, chopped
5 oz. eggplant, diced in ½” cubes or smaller
¼ c. celery, finely minced
1/3 c. red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend
1 small low-carb roll of your choice, crumbled (I used ½ slice of my Jalapeno Cheese Bread)
Dash each salt and black pepper
3/4 c. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º. Melt the butter over high heat in a skillet and add the olive oil. Sauté the onion and celery until they begins to soften a bit. Add the eggplant and saute until the eggplant is nearly done (but not mushy). Add the red bell pepper and minced garlic and sauté just to tenderize the bell pepper. Next add the salt, black pepper and the Seafood Spice Blend and stir to blend. Next crumble the low-carb roll/bread into the mixture. Stir one final time and remove from heat. Spoon 1/4 of the mixture into 2 lightly oiled ceramic dishes. Top each with 1/4 of the cheese. Spoon the remaining mixture equally in the dishes and top each with half of the remaining cheese. Pop into a 350º oven and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted well and bubbly around the edges. Serve with a green salad or your favorite green vegetable.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes two 1¼ c. servings, each contains:
538 calories
43.3 g fat
11 g carbs, 4.25 g fiber, 6.75 g NET CARBS
907 mg sodium
570 my potassium
28% RDA Vitamin A, 17% B6, 48% C, 22% E, 9% calcium, 72% copper, 25% iron, 15% magnesium, 39% manganese, 19% niacin, 45% phosphorous, 19% riboflavin, 64% selenium, 10% thiamin and 22% zinc
