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Eggplant is a super healthy vegetable that gets overlooked a lot when we shop for groceries.
Why? because egg plant is pretty tasteless on its own.
Eggplant can be difficult to make tasty if you don’t know what you’re doing. But no worries!
Here are 6 very simple recipes you can try out.
Table of Contents:
Eggplant dip – Baba Ganoush
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2
1 medium sized eggplant
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons roasted tahini (sesame paste)
3 garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons of lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat your oven to 230 degrees C.
2. Cut your eggplant in half – length wise. Place it in a baking tray and drizzle olive oil on the cut side.
3. Then flip it over so the skin side is up and the cut side is down. Place it in the oven for roughly 30 minutes.
4. Grab your garlic cloves and dice them up finely to add to the dip later.
5. Once your eggplant is done, take them out of the tray and grab a strainer.
6. Use a spoon to scoop out the content of your eggplant into the strainer, leaving just the skin behind.
7. Begin to use the strainer to get rid of any excess liquid from the eggplant. Do this by using your spoon to push the eggplant flesh against the strainer.
8. Place your eggplant into a bowl, add in your finely chopped garlic, squeeze in some lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of tahini. Mix well.
9. Once well mixed, add in some more lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon of paprika, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin and finally some chopped parsley.
10. Mix well and serve with whatever you want to dip it in.
Eggplant curry
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2
1 medium eggplant
2 clove garlic
Half an onion
1 ½ teaspoon curry powder
1 ½ teaspoon turmeric
1 can of tomatoes
1 can (400ml) coconut milk
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup rice
DIRECTIONS
1. Dice up your garlic finely. Dice about half an onion. Then dice your eggplant into small chunks.
2. Heat up your frying pan and add in a splash of oil before adding your onions, garlic and eggplant in. Let that cook a little until the onions have sweated a bit.
3. Then add in your curry powder, turmeric, canned tomatoes, coconut milk and let that all cook together.
4. Once the whole lot has been well mixed and brought to a boil, add in your cumin, salt and sugar to taste.
5. Let your curry simmer down to a thicker consistency you like.
6. Serve with rice and enjoy!
FISH FRAGRANT EGGPLANT
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2
STIR FRY INGREDIENTS:
2 chinese eggplants
120g pork mince
5 cloves chopped garlic (less if you don’t love it as much as I do)
2 tablespoon chopped ginger
2 spring onions
½ teaspoon red chili (or more if you want)
FISH SAUCE:
15 g sugar
Pinch of salt
1/3 teaspoon corn starch
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice vinegar
30 ml water
1 teaspoon fish sauce
DIRECTIONS
1. Chop your eggplant up into around 2cm cubes. Basically bite size chunks.
2. Place them into a bowl with about 1/4 teaspoon of corn starch and 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar. Mix the whole lot well.
3. Steam your eggplant for about 15minutes.
4. While the eggplant is steaming, you want to grab a few cloves of garlic, slices of ginger and dice them up as finely as you can.
5. Then a sprig of spring onions and chop them up as well. Grab a small red chili and slice as much as you prefer.
6. Then we move onto the sauce. Take a bowl and add 15g of brown sugar, a pinch of salt, 1/3 teaspoon of corn starch, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce and 30ml of water. Mix all of this together.
7. Then heat up your frying pan and add in your mince pork. Add in your chopped ingredients once the minced pork is about 80% cooked.
8. Add in your sauce and mix well. Then add in your steamed egg plant to the mix and cook until the eggplant has had a chance to soak in some of that sauce.
9. Serve with rice and enjoy!
Miso Eggplant
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2
1 medium eggplant
3 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons cooking sake
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons sesame oil
½ teaspoon grated ginger
80g miso paste
DIRECTIONS
1. Take your eggplant and chop the top off, then slice it in half length ways.
2. Score the flesh with a knife and rub some salt in. Set this aside to let the salt draw the moisture out. At the same time, preheat the oven to 230 C.
3. In a bowl, add in 2 tablespoons of mirin, 2 tablespoons of cooking sake, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 tablespoons of sesame oil, 1/2 a teaspoon of grated ginger and about 80g of miso paste. Mix it all together.
4. Grab your eggplant and pat dry with a paper towel. Lightly brush off any excess salt on top.
5. Generously slather your sauce mix on your eggplants. But leave a bit of the sauce for later.
6. Then place your eggplant in the oven for about 30minutes.
7. Take your eggplants out after 30minutes, drizzle the remaining bits of sauce you have and sprinkle some chopped spring onions.
8. Serve and enjoy!
Eggplant Parmesan
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 4
EGGPLANT PREP:
2 medium eggplants
3 -5 tablespoon salt
Cheese (parmesan, cheddar, Mozzarella)
1 cup olive oil
FLOUR BATTER:
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
MARINARA SAUCE:
1 can tomatoes
1 can water (from the tomato can)
4 tablespoon oil
4 cloves chopped garlic
2 sprigs of basil leaves
½ teaspoon oregano
Pinch of salt
1.2 teaspoon sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Start by preheating your oven to 200 C.
2. Chop the eggplant into circular disks, and then line them on a tray with a sheet of baking paper.
3. Sprinkle salt on your egg plant slices on both sides, and then cover your eggplant with baking paper. Set aside by placing something heavy on top to let the salt draw out the moisture.
4. Grab a mixing bowl and place your flour, oregano, pepper and garlic powder in. Mix well and set aside.
6. Grab another mixing bowl and add in your canned tomatoes. Mash up the tomatoes with a fork before pouring in a can of water. Set aside.
7. Heat up a pot with 4 tablespoons of oil.
8. Place 4 cloves of chopped garlic and before the garlic starts burning, add your tomato mix in. Add in your basil, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Turn the stove off once the whole thing is brought to a boil.
9. Grab some paper towels to absorb the excess water on your eggplant slices. Then coat each slice with your flour mix and set aside.
10. Grab a frying pan and place enough oil to deep fry your eggplant slices in. Cook for about 3 minutes each side and set them aside.
11. In a casserole dish, place layers of your marinara sauce, eggplant and then cheese. Repeat this until you’ve used all your ingredients up and place into the preheated oven for 30minutes.
12. Serve and enjoy.
Eggplant with garlic and soy sauce
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 4
1 medium eggplant
5 cloves of garlic (but less if you don’t love garlic as much as me)
1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoon sesame oil
1 spring onion (chopped)
DIRECTIONS
1. Start by getting your steamer basket ready so the water is brought to a boil once everything is ready. Skip this step if you’re using an electric steamer.
2. Finely dice 4 cloves of garlic, and slice your eggplant into long strips.
3. Place your eggplant on a plate, and then sprinkle your chopped garlic evenly on top. Drizzle some oil on top.
4. place it into the steamer for 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Once done, drizzle some soy sauce, sesame oil and chopped spring onions.
6. Serve and enjoy.
