Hit me w/ an easy beginner eggplant recipe

[saraha]

My New Years resolution was to try to add new foods to our diet.  This week it is eggplant.  I need an easy recipe for our group who has never had eggplant and includes more than a few skeptics.  Help me get them to eat this weird purple thing please!

 

Thanks

[Liz CA]

Peel and slice eggplant lenghtwise. Liberally salt the slices and let sit for an hour or two. Something bluish may form on top of slices. Rinse it off. This little process extracts the bitterness. Now sprinkle some olive oil on eggplant, you can bread it as well if you like and fry it in a pan or bake in oven at F350 until the edges curl. I season with Italian seasoning mix but you can use whatever you like.

[saraha]

Do you bread them, like dip in egg and then flour?  Then put them on a greased cookie sheet?

[trinchick]

My favorite way to eat eggplant is roasted. We have this at least once a week.

 

One eggplant, peeled and diced

Two red peppers, cut into longish slices (official cookery term; look it up if you don't believe me :laugh: )

Red onion, cut into longish slices or big chunks

Sliced mushrooms

 

Place all in baking dish, drizzle with olive, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour stirring a couple of times.

 

I usually make this when I'm cooking some other kind of roasted meat like a whole chicken or a pork tenderloin. I throw it all in the oven with some baked sweet potatoes. World's easiest meal, hardly any clean-up, delicious. All good.

[Liz CA]

Do you bread them, like dip in egg and then flour?  Then put them on a greased cookie sheet?

 

Yes, just like that AFTER you give them the salt treatment and rinse them off.

[Amira]

Here's my favorite.  I also have a really good recipe for chunks of steamed eggplant with tomatoes.  I can type it up if anyone is interested. We also simply like to stir-fry julienned eggplant with sliced peppers and onions and garlic and serve it over noodles, preferably thick ones. 

 

Vegetable oil
5 small eggplant, sliced thin (or one large American eggplant)
5 small tomatoes, sliced thin (or 3 large tomatoes)
3 small peppers (hot or sweet or a mix), sliced (or one large, thick-walled bell pepper)
Handful of chopped green onions, or another green like garlic chives or dill or whatever you have)
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
A tablespoon or two of vinegar, or to taste
1 Tablespoon soy sauce, optional
Salt, if needed
Crushed red pepper, if desired

Fry the eggplant in vegetable oil till soft.  If you're using a thick-walled bell pepper, cook it with the eggplant.  When the eggplant is just starting to fall apart, add the tomatoes, peppers if you didn't already add them, greens, and the garlic and stir-fry for a minute or two. When everything is cooked the way you like it, turn off the heat and add the vinegar, soy sauce if desired, and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately or let it cool off a bit. You can serve it hot, warm, cold, or at room temperature.  In Central Asia it would be considered a salad and served at room temperature, but I like it warm.

 

[KungFuPanda]

Eggplant Parmesan. Bread and fry, then bake with cheese and a jar of spaghetti sauce on top. Not the healthiest way to go, but it certainly is delicious.

[Jennifer in MI]

I saute some onions and garlic in olive oil.  Then add the eggplant (peeled and cubed).  Add a little broth or water and a can of tomatoes and a dash of cumin.  Let it cook until the eggplant is soft - around 30 minutes.  I love this over rice and chicken.  Just yesterday I made this to put over pork chops, so it's very versatile!

[Slache]

We love Ratatouille at our house.

[Truscifi]

I like eggplant boats - cut a large eggplant in half, drizzle each half with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, and roast face down on a pizza stone for 30 minutes. Turn open side up and top with a bruschetta style topping (diced tomatoes, basil, garlic, and olive oil) and a little parmesan cheese and broil until the parm starts to brown. I like it with beef or venison.

[fraidycat]

These sound yummy!

 

What a fantastic NY resolution. I might have to steal it. :)

[Alessandra]

These all sound delicious.

 

My go-to eggplant is to grill it. Use a thin, Japanese style eggplant. Cut into thin nosh lengthwise slices (about 4 per eggplant) . Then brush on a little olive oil and grill on a stovetop pan, the type with ridges. Grill both sides, sprinkle with a little kosher salt while grilling. Good warm -- and also cold in sandwiches.

[Barbara H]

Julia Child's eggplant pizza recipe is a huge hit at our house. http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2012/08/recipe-for-julia-childs-eggplant-pizzas.html

[nd293]

I only learned to like eggplant about 10 years ago - my mother used to serve it battered and pan fried. Bleh. The deli where I first tried it as an adult baked half eggplants topped with tomato and cheese. Heavenly. Serve me eggplant on my deathbed, please.

 

No recipes as mine are in hard copy or I just Google a new one each time, but try looking for recipes for:

 

* moussaka (Greek baked dish of mince, eggplant and white sauce, sometimes with potato and tomato)

 

* maklouba (spelled about 10 different ways) - an Arabic rice, lamb, cauliflower and eggplant dish which means 'upside down' from the way it is cooked layered in a pot then tipped out.

 

* eggplant parmigiana - eggplant layered with tomato sauce and topped with Parmesan and baked

 

Personally I think it's just about perfect sliced and fried, well soaked in olive oil and with plenty of salt and pepper.

 

(I usually don't bother about salting and rinsing to remove bitterness. I once went to a cooking demonstrator by a well know Mediterranean cook who was visiting South Africa , and she noted that the no-one she'd met on her visit seemed aware of this step, and that the flavour didn't seem to be affected. Try and see if it makes a difference.)