Hamburger Eggplant Bake

I had no idea what to cook for dinner and this is what popped into my head. We had an organic eggplant from our farm share and my husband wanted hamburger. Tah-dah!

Now... when I started plugging things into my calculator, the tomatoes became a problem and that always bothers me, but when I took the recipe to 6 servings, the net carbs seemed more reasonable. Luckily, on keto you don't need to eat as much and the 6 servings totally worked out!

Entered via MyFitnessPal.

Hamburger Eggplant Bake
Serves 6

Net Carbs: 9g                               Total Fat: 40g
Total Carbs: 13g                          Protein: 59g

Ingredients

• 1 lb(s), Eggplant, raw (that's before the cutting and de-seeing, etc.); dice it
• 3 lb(s), Ground Beef
• 8oz can Tomato Sauce
• 1 container (1 4/5 cups ea.), Italian Diced Tomatoes
• 2 Cup, Mozzarella Shredded Cheese
• 3 Tbsp, Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 TBSP Garlic Powder
• 2 TBSP Onion Powder
• 2 TBSP Italian Seasoning 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. 
2. Start browning the ground beef. I make sure to salt and pepper meat while it's cooking.
3. Drain off some of the grease. (I'm not a fan of beef fat, so I add fat back in with the olive oil.)
4. Remove the browned meat from the skillet and add in the eggplant and olive oil (or use the beef fat).
5. Cook the eggplant until it starts to soften. Add in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and seasoning.
6. When slightly heated through, add in the beef and combine. Again, cook until heated through.
7. Cover the mixture with the mozzarella cheese and bake until the mozzarella is melted. 
8. Broil on high for a few minutes to brown the mozzarella.
9. Serve (sprinkle a little Parmesan if you're inclined).