1 large eggplant, cubed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon parsley
2 tablespoons fresh basil
salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Bake eggplant in the oven until tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Remove the eggplant from the oven and combine with egg, bread crumbs, parmesan and spices.
4. Refrigerate mixture until cool to the touch, then form mixture into patties and cover with flour.
5. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and fry patties, flipping once, until crisp and browned.

Makes 6 servings

2 skinless chicken breasts, halved
1 cup fine bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon capers

1. Flatten chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap with a meat tenderizer until about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Combine bread crumbs and grated parmesan in a shallow dish.
3. Brush the chicken breasts with butter and press into the bread crumb mixture.
4. Fry chicken breasts over medium heat in a non-stick skillet until cooked through to the center and outside is browned.
5. Remove chicken breasts from skillet and add remaining butter, cooking until lightly browned.
6. Add the capers and lemon juice, then pour over the chicken to serve.

Makes 4 servings

4 cups cauliflower flowerets
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place cauliflower in a casserole dish and sprinkle with minced garlic and lemon juice.
3. Drizzle olive oil over cauliflower and bake until the top is lightly browned. Continue baking until desired tenderness, if necessary.
4. Remove from the oven and cover with parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 servings

Tonight's dinner started off with me trying to figure out how to utilize a quarter of a loaf of leftover free bread and ended up being a masterpiece. I think this is my favorite meal this year next to Does God Like Enchiladas? I loved every morsel of every dish that I made tonight and I'm not ashamed to tell you so. If you've ever enjoyed garlic, lemon, butter or chicken, then this meal is for you. What a wonderful way to wrap up the first month of A Food Year.

I have no idea what Chicken Paillard means, but this dish with caper brown butter is
awesome. Shannon picked the capers out because she doesn't like them, but she loved the dish itself. The chicken is crispy, despite the dressing, and infused with a wonderful lemony butter flavor.

The Garlic Baked Cauliflower is tangy and flavorful and right up there with my favorite cauliflower recipe, which is mashed havarti cauliflower fauxtatoes. I'm sure those will turn up when I decide on doing a low-carb inspired dinner.

I was a little skeptical about the Mediterranean Eggplant Cakes, but since I had leftovers from the Vegetable Napoleons I made a week ago that were going to go bad quite soon, I figured I'd make use of them somehow. Even with week old eggplant these were absolutely delicious. If you have ever tried eggplant and disliked it, try this recipe. Try all of them!