aubergine yummylicious casserole

Had some eggplant/aubergine in my fridge that needed using and I thought about making an easy version of moussaka, but wanted something a little different (and I had some wilting celery that needed some attention as well). In my always-used More with Less I found this casserole, one of the author's own recipes, but I thought it looked a little bland. I jazzed it up the mamatouille way, and oh my oh my oh my, we loved it! (The Toddler Bean wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, but what's new? Oh well, his loss. More for ME! My precious.) The different vibrant veggie colors and tastes were amazing.
Here's the basic recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C. Combine in a bowl - 15 crushed soda crackers and 2 T. melted margarine. Take out and reserve 1/4 c. for later.

Add to remaining crumbs - 3 c. cubed eggplant/aubergine, 1/2 c. shredded sharp cheese, 1/4 c. chopped celery, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper, 1 c. evaporated milk.

Spoon into a greased casserole dish, top with the reserved crumbs, and bake for 45 min.

Here's what I did differently:

I added 3 beaten eggs, garlic powder, onion powder, 1/4 t. extra salt, celery salt, fresh chopped spinach, and quartered cherry tomatoes.

Here's what I'll do differently next time (and there will definitely be a next time):

I'll do all of the above, plus add a few drops of Tabasco sauce for some kick, and I'll sprinkle some parmesan on top, below the cracker topping layer.

It was like a glorified crustless quiche the way I did it, and every bite was gorgeous. You could probably use any veggies you like (yes, I know, technically tomatoes are fruit!), so go ahead, try it. Mikey might even like it. (But no promises that Matthew will.)