Farmer's Market and Italian Eggplant and Mushroom Casserole

I love Farmer's Market! You meet some really cool people. This is Bob. Bob sells organic produce at Farmer's Markets in Central Illinois that he grows himself and, along with these items on this particular day,

he also had eggplant. I bought that from him along with Swiss chard (both VERY reasonably priced) went to the neighboring booth, bought a watermelon and went about my merry way with my edible treasures. I cooked the Swiss chard for supper that evening along with burgers on the grill, had the watermelon for dessert and the next day made Italian Eggplant and Mushroom Casserole.

I don't bread and fry the eggplant. It's messy, I don't want the breadcrumbs (processed, I don't eat bread unless I make it myself) and...it's messy. So for this particular casserole (you gotta like...er, make that LOVE eggplant because this is really eggplanty), here is the recipe I used -

1 large (not enormous, but large) firm eggplant peeled and cut into smallish chunks (like 1 1/2" by 1 1/2")

4 ounces of sliced mushrooms (whatever kind you like. I used baby portabella for this one because that's what I had)

1 pint (or 2 cups) of marinara

4 ounces of mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Layer the eggplant and mushrooms in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Pour the marinara over it and cheese it up! as in layer the cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. If you want it a little browner (I did) put it under a low broiler for about 5 minutes or until it's as brown as you want it. Serve it with organic garlic bread or garlic biscuits. It's not bad! And, it's from the earth!!