Behold the eggplant;
Egg-shaped majesty,
Thou art a purple-cloaked mystery:
Do you fruit or veggie be?
Well, enough of that. I’m not a poet and I do know it, thank you very much. I’m also not a huge eggplant fan–at least I wasn’t, until earlier this week.
An eggplant showed up quite without my permission in my food co-op bin a couple weeks ago. I could have traded it out, but didn’t, for the simple reason that I believe one must constantly expand one’s interests and tastes. (Unless you’re talking about football, eating chocolate-covered grasshoppers, traveling to Siberia…oh, sorry, I digress.)
For almost an entire week, my eggplant-related interests and tastes remained confined to the vegetable drawer in my refrigerator.
I couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Breading and frying it, as my mother did to make it more palatable to her four offspring, held little appeal to me. The only other way I’ve eaten eggplant is grilled, which was okay, but only because it was seasoned well.
Finally, another member of the co-op posted a message to the co-op’s Yahoo! Group, expressing the same conundrum I was facing: how do you prepare eggplant so that it tastes good? The first couple of responses enthused that eggplant picks up whatever flavoring you put on it, so I planned to steam mine and saturate it with Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s.
Then, the recipes began pouring in. In the final analysis, around ten people had contributed their favorite recipes. At the end of this post, I’ll share the two that appealed most to me. Having two large heirloom tomatoes on hand and fresh herbs growing in pots right outside my back door, I used the recipes to inspire me.
I ended up making a raw pasta sauce with the tomatoes, herbs, and raw garlic with a dash of salt. After peeling, cubing, and steaming the eggplant, I divided it onto our plates and poured the sauce over it.
I never thought I’d find myself saying this about an eggplant dish, but here goes: YUMMMMMYY! My husband liked it as well. Mr. Picky wasn’t too thrilled with it, but the past few days I’ve been pulling my hair out just to get him to eat things he does like. (Welcome to the world of three-year-olds, right?)
I may actually start buying eggplant on my own once in a while. I never realized that it was such a healthy vegetable fruit chunk of produce. It contains something called chlorogenic acid, which is anti-cancer, antiviral, antimicrobial, and anti-LDL.
As well, from now on, I’ll leave the peel on. The peel contains nasunin, a phytonutrient that is both an antioxidant and a free-radical scavenger (i.e., helps to protect from cancerous cell growth).
In the meantime, if you’ve been skittish, as I had been, about cooking eggplant, here are those recipes I mentioned earlier to help embolden you to take the first step in trying it out.
(By the way, eggplant is, botanically speaking, a fruit, although everyone calls it a vegetable since it’s not sweet.)
Eggplant Caponata
- 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- 1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 medium-size zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3/4 cup tomato puree
- 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. sugar (Crunchy Coach note: I would use agave nectar)
- 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
- 1 1/2 tsp. dried basil
- 1/3 cup chopped green olives
- 1 Tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained (Another Crunchy Coach note: I’m too cheap to buy capers. Would omit.)
- 1 large loaf Italian bread, cut into 1/2-inch slices and lightly toasted
Stir together tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, celery, onion, tomato puree, vinegar, sugar, parsley and basil in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 6 hours.
Stir in olives and capers. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chill overnight. Spoon about 1/4 cup onto each toasted bread slice.
Got a pizza lover in your family? I do! Here is a very innovative way to prepare eggplant that I don’t think anyone would turn down.
Pita Pizzas
- Large flat pitas (approx. 1 per person)
- Olive oil
- 1 large eggplant, peeled and diced
- 1 container sliced mushrooms
- 1 large can crushed tomatoes (28 oz.)
- 1 small can prepared pizza sauce (optional)
- Fresh or dried Italian herbs (I used fresh chopped basil & oregano.)
- 1 onion or onion powder
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- Sea salt to taste
- Pizza cheese (Crunchy Coach note: I recommended unpasteurized cheese, even if it’s going to be baked.)
- Baby spinach
- Chopped sweet bell peppers
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
First, soak peeled, cubed eggplant in sea salt. Put the eggplant in a plastic, ceramic, or glass bowl and pour 1 T. sea salt over and toss. Cover with a towel and let stand for 1 hour or more, tossing to recoat once. When you see “juice” in the bowl, rinse eggplant in a strainer with filtered water. This gets rid of any bitter juice in the eggplant. (This is a great trick for zucchini as well.)
Next, make the sauce. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a sauté pan. Add fresh chopped onion if using and sauté until translucent. Add a bit more oil if needed and add the eggplant. Sauté until soft, turning down the heat to med-low after the first couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until thoroughly cooked. Cook these veggies about 30-45 minutes, covering them halfway through. Uncover to cook out any moisture and add the garlic the last couple of minutes. The key is to cook the heck out of the veggies and stir a lot to keep them from sticking. You also want them soft but dry – no liquid. When the veggies are done, add the crushed tomatoes and seasonings and cook another 30 min. or so. You can cover the sauce during the first half, but then uncover it to cook some of the moisture out.
When your sauce is ready, spread olive oil on your pizza stone with a brush or a paper towel. Put down your pita(s) and top with the sauce, cheese, spinach, and peppers. Bake until the cheese is thoroughly melted and the pitas are crispy on the bottom. Cut into slices. Enjoy!
Mmm. I am ready for another eggplant. But today, the co-op bin had acorn squash instead. Golly gee, what can a person do with acorn squash?
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