It’s funny how our tastebuds change as we age.  Not too long ago, eggplant was on my shortlist of foods I didn’t like, now it seems I can’t get enough of it. One day I looked at the plate of baba ganoush my friend had ordered and it just clicked, “I’m going to like eggplant now!” The same thing happened with onions, black licorice, and avocados. One minute I hated it, the next I suddenly can’t get enough of it. There’s no gray area either, I don’t ease these new ‘likes’ into my diet, I go whole hog. The first time I ate raw onions I didn’t just squirrel them into a salad, no, I made an onion sandwich! Crazy, I know.

Now that eggplant is on my radar I find that I’m consistently searching for new, unique ways to prepare and satiate my addiction. I recently discovered this delicious Moorish dish, Badenjan – a creamy smokey dip with deep notes of saffron balanced by fresh mint – and in two weeks I’ve made it twice. Both times I’ve prepared it as a condiment of sorts to our main dish. The first time, to accompany aromatic lamb meatballs (filled with garlic, onions and mint), the second time an addition to a Moroccan-style grilled chicken.  The perfect addition to both meals. I’m telling you, this is some serious eggplant goodness.

Click below for the recipe:

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(Another fabulous post from contributor Betsy Dorfman!)

“Eat colors!” is just plain good advice. Most meats, starches and carbs are not colorful; chances are if your plate holds an array of bright colors you are eating vegetables and fruits, always a good thing. We’re talking natural colors here, not jello or frankenfoods. This mélange of vegetables was the preamble to a vegetarian meal served over rice. Our mix included Bermuda onion, green pepper, eggplant, and both orange and yellow carrots, the latter courtesy of Trader Joe’s. I like to julienne the carrots and leave the onion and green pepper strips rather long as they make a nice presentation draped over the rice, and they stay crisper than if chopped fine. The dish would have been more colorful but I held the eggplant too long in the crisper (which we call the rotter) and the purple skin became mottled brown and so was pared away. The eggplant was first precooked in the microwave and was added, as was a can of black beans and two chopped Roma tomatoes, at a later stage.

A recipe for the finished dish follows. The amounts of vegetables are arbitrary, depending upon how many mouths you have to feed. Any other vegetable can be added, to your liking. The quantities below fed three adults with lunch portions left over for the next day.

Eat Colors mélange:

INGREDIENTS
2-3 carrots, peeled and julienned
2 green peppers, pared, seeded, and cut into thin strips
1 large bermuda or other sweet onion (2 if small), peeled and sliced
1 eggplant, cubed and peeled if the skin is tough or bruised
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or put through a grater
1  12 oz can of black beans, unsalted if possible, drained with liquid preserved
2  roma tomatoes, pared and rough chopped. Peel if skins are thick and/or waxed
1/2 half cup of cashew nuts, chopped fine for topping
2 TB olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsps Ras-al-hanout seasoning, or to your taste. Tandoori seasoning is also a fine option.
plain nonfat yogurt for topping
3-4 cups cooked white or brown rice

TECHNIQUE
Place the cubed eggplant in a microwave safe dish, mix with the minced garlic cloves, cover tightly and microwave on high until softened but not fully cooked, approximately 5-7 minutes.

Sauté carrots, peppers, and onion in 2 TB olive oil over medium heat until onion is becoming translucent and the carrots are softening but still al dente. The vegetables should not brown.

Add the eggplant and garlic, together with any cooking liquid left in the microwave pan. Add the drained black beans and the chopped tomato and stir to distribute.

Stir the ras-al-hanout into 1/2 of the reserved black bean liquid. When blended, add to pan. Cook 3-6 minutes until heated through. If too thick add remaining bean liquid or other liquid. Taste and add salt and pepper, adjust seasoning as needed.

Serve over or aside rice with a dollop of yogurt and chopped cashew nuts as topping. Also good served with chutney.

Healthy, delicious, and satisfies all the senses!

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My first attempts to cook eggplant years ago revolved around sautéed versions. These typically began modestly enough with a few tablespoons of olive oil but then, inexorably, required more and more oil to be added to prevent burning. By the time the eggplant was soft, the slices or cubes had sucked up vast reserves of oil which they relinquished if reheated (as in eggplant parmigiana) — not pretty, or tasty. The calorie count was inestimable. And often the eggplant had a bitter aftertaste.

To cure the bitterness, various mavens recommended slicing the eggplant into strips or rounds, salting heavily, placing in a colander to drain for an hour or so, then rinsing off, patting dry, and proceeding to the above oil rig stage. This put cooking a simple vegetable into the Sunday afternoon project category. I continued to buy and wrestle with eggplants, but I became deeply suspicious of their resume.

Until the microwave. The microwave “gets” eggplant. You almost can’t go wrong, and just a bit of oil or a small amount of cooking liquid is required. The results are much healthier, the pre-salting stage is eliminated, and the cooking time is reduced to minutes.

Here is one of our all time favorites, using the blessed microwave shortcut for the eggplant:

Pesto ingredients
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 -2 cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, preferably reggiano, grated
2 T pine nuts (optional)
Salt to taste

Technique
Whiz the basil leaves in a blender or food processor until chopped fine
Add the garlic, salt and oil and blend until well incorporated
Pour into a bowl and beat in the parmesan cheese by hand for best texture
Add the pine nuts and stir
NOTE: the entire process can be done in the blender to save time

EGGPLANT with Pesto
Preheat oven to 375
Wash, cut the ends and stem off a medium to large eggplant, slice
lengthwise into pieces of similar width
Place into a microwave and oven safe dish, brush very lightly with pesto
Cover with lid or plastic wrap and microwave on high 3-4 minutes or
until eggplant is softening but not mushy
Drain accumulated liquid from dish
Brush eggplant slices again with pesto, using more than previously and
covering all surfaces
Bake uncovered at 375 to heat through and slightly brown the top,
approximately ten minutes

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