Challenge #2: Sad Lady Casserole

This week challenge came from Jen G.: "Make something that would have been awesome to a single working Mom in the late seventies, like some sort of gruesome casserole. Only make it GOOD."

And so I bring you the Sad Lady Casserole aka The Triflin' Ho. It's layered tomatoes, zucchinis, and fried eggplant all topped with mashed turnips, Gruyere, and goat cheese. Recipe after the pictures. Enjoy!


Cut turnips ready for boiling.


The cut zucchini and tomato, marinating in black pepper, Italian seasoning, and olive oil.


Bread in the food processor for fresh bread crumbs.


The eggplant frying station.


Frying eggplants.


Pile of fried eggplant.


Pre-mashed turnips.


Layering the dish.


The sadface in the mashed turnips.


Cheese!


The finished dish.


The food plated and topple over. Oops.

Sad Lady Casserole:
1/2 Eggplant, peeled, thinly sliced, and fried
1 Zucchini, thinly sliced and marinated
1/2 lb Turnips, peeled, cut, boiled, and mashed
3-4 Tomatoes, thinly sliced and marinated
1/2 C Gruyere, goat cheese, or any other cheese

1) Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, then throw in the turnips.

2) Cut and marinate the zucchini and tomato

3) Peel and cut the eggplant.

4) Bread the eggplants in the style of eggplant parmesan, then fry and place on a paper towel to cool.

5) When the turnips have boiled for about an hour, drain thoroughly and mash (a dollop of sour cream is recommended).

6) Layer according to your tastes. I did tomato, zucchini, eggplant.

7) Spread mashed turnips on top and then sprinkle of cheese, if desired.

8) Bake for 35-40 minutes at 450 degrees.

If I had to do it again, I would make a lot more turnip mash and combine that with some potato so I could use that as a bottom layer as well. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.