Eggplant Recipes

I love eggplant.

I make a similar unbreaded version of eggplant parmesan -- it's quicker, and I've never much cared for breading on
food anyway.

I also make baba ghanoush (best if you can grill the eggplant to give it a smoky flavor, but if you char it under the broiler it's not bad. (Cook and smash the eggplant, add tahini, olive oil, and garlic to taste.)

I also like eggplant (cut into thumb-sized pieces) and stir-fried with a yu shang (garlic) sauce (1 Tbsp soy sauce + 1 Tbsp vinegar + 1 Tbsp hot bean paste + 1/2 Tbsp rice wine + 1 tsp sugar + 1/2 tsp salt + 1 tsp cornstarch + 1 tsp sesame oil). Sometimes I like to add fresh tomatoes and/or scallops -- not exactly a traditional combo, but I like it.

Plain grilled eggplant planks, brushed with olive oil, is really good.

I also like an eggplant and chickpea soup adapted from a newspaper recipe (originally from a book called "Cooking Under Cover" by Linda and Fred Griffith) -- cook a chopped onion in olive oil, add a chopped carrot, one or two medium potatoes, a 15 oz. can of drained, rinsed chickpeas, a minced garlic clove, and a large peeled, cubed eggplant. Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and ground allspice. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add a 15 oz. can of tomatoes with the juice, a cup or so of canned or frozen corn, a cup or so of canned or frozen okra, and water to bring liquid level to half the depth of the solids. Simmer another 20 minutes. Stir in 1 tsp of dried mint or 1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint. Cook until eggplant is tender (about another 10 minutes). I like it served hot, but the original recipe said it could be serve at room temperature or cold as well.

Eggplant is also good in a stew with chicken thigh meat, chicken stock, summer squash, corn, tomatoes, garlic ... I can't find the recipe just now. I think there was basil and oregano in it.

I posted my eggplant pizza recipe on a thread that was started by someone looking for vegetarian meal ideas.

It's super simple, but that doesn't mean boring!!
If you're just cooking for yourself the second pizza will last in the fridge for up-to but no more than three days. Or you can scale it down, or up, depending on who your catering for.

Ingredients for two people:
- Small pizza bases x2 (I buy mine from a supermarket because there pretty low cal for a commercial base and quite tasty, but there would be plenty of healthy pizza base recipes on Taste.com if you wanted to make sure it was low cal)
- 140g tub of no salt tomato paste (this will be to much paste for two pizza's so to avoid waste, use a smaller jar/tub if you can)
- Cheddar cheese (use as little or as much as you see fit)
- Parmesan cheese (use as much or as little as you want)
- Medium to large eggplant x1
- Fresh tomato x3 (big ones, or the equivalent of cherry tomatoes)
- Bunch of basil (all of it)
- Avocado x1
- Chilli flakes, optional (some people hate it on this recipe, but some love it)

Method:
1) Cut the eggplant in-to fairly thin slices (no thicker than a centre meter, not sure what the US conversion is) and lightly salt them.
2) Place the salted eggplant slices in a siv/strainer/colander and cover with baking paper. Place something heavy, like a bowl on-top of the eggplant to help get the excess moister out. Leave the eggplant in the colander for around a half hour (You don't have to hang around in the kitchen while the eggplant is doing its thing. I tend to do a quick workout or run - I have a home gym - while it's in the colander).
3) Wash the excess salt off and pat dry.
4) Line the pizza base/s with tomato paste (I prefer to have the paste quite thin, but thick or thin is fine for the recipe)
5) Grate a tiny bit of both cheeses onto the bases (this is just to act as a 'glue' so all that awesome topping doesn't fall off)
6) Next add the eggplant, fresh tomato and basil. Be extremely liberal with the basil it's a key ingredient of this recipe.
7) Top the pizza with as much, or as little, of both cheeses as desired.
8) Cook the pizza bases accordingly to the instructions of the packet or recipe. I like to swap the pizza's over (so bottom pizza on top and visa versa) at the halfway mark to ensure an even cook.
9) This next part is the pièce de résistance of the dish. Just before the pizza is ready, cut the avocado in-to rough chunks and then put on-top of the pizza's as you serve.

The avo may seem strange to some people but because it doesn't have a strong flavor at all, and it goes really well with the other ingredients. Plus the cold (compared to the pizza) and soft texture of the avo acts as a really nice contrast pizza.

That it. Simples. Enjoy.

Cheers,
Will

P.S Anyone on the forum is welcome to use this recipe (obviously) that's why I posted it here on the thread. But I'll be a bit peeved if I see it somewhere else on the forum and someone else is taking the credit for it.

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

I think eggplant would be my least favourite vegetable.... Baba ganoush is ok though!

Same!

Eggplant is so versatile! I love doing different versions of stuffed eggplant halves.

Start by either boiling them or roasting in the oven (I usually boil them as it gets the job done in 10-15 mins and you can add flavor with spices later). While that is boiling, I will sauteé the other vegetables I want to put inside (don't add too much unless you want leftover stuffing for something else): chop garlic and onion, and I usually go for some zucchini as well. When those are a bit cooked, add lean minced meat and throw in some spices (thyme, black pepper and oregano) and let it cook.

By then the eggplants should be done. Drain them and let them cool. Once you can handle them with your hands, carefully scoop out the eggplant flesh and cut it in small pieces. Throw it in with the veggies and meat. Here I usually add a little splash of white wine, but this is optional. Then add in either a can of crushed tomatoes or fresh ones, and let that simmer and cook to thicken.

Once ready, let it cool down a bit and scoop it into each of the eggplant halves. You can either serve it like that or put some shredded cheese/breadcrumbs on top and quickly broil in the oven.

These are so so sooo good!!

Slice thick like burgers. Salt and let stand for an hour or two. Rinse. (This takes the bitterness out, probably a reason many in the thread don't like egg plant). Then grill and use like a regular burger.

Indian style-roast eggplant on open flame(stovetop),peel skin and mash it after cooled.chop onions,tomatoes.Add oil in a pan,add mustard and cumin seeds(skip if not available).saute first onions then tomatoes,add salt,cumin,coriander powder,red chili powder.mix well and then add the eggplant.mix well,add salt and cook for few more minutes.Top with chopped coriander leaves.A bit of tamarind extract when adding the salt gives a tangy flavor (a splash of vinegar might give the same effect).
For extra heat add Thai green chilies chopped after onions.