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"The only thing I like better than an eggplant burger is a chocolate-covered eggplant burger." –Anonymous

 

Well, maybe I wouldn’t go that far but eggplant, thanks to my mom’s brilliant, thick sliced, baked eggplant parmesan, has long been one of my favorite veggies. Clearly, I’m not alone.  From the Middle East’s garlicky baba ghanoush to Greek mousakka to a Chinese spicy eggplant and tofu stir-fry and beyond, eggplant ranks as one of the world’s favorite veggies.  Who knew?

 

The eggplant belongs to the family of nightshade plants that also include the potato, tomato, pepper, deadly nightshade (also known as belladonna), petunia, and tobacco. Many historians place the earliest eggplants in India, though 5^th century agricultural documents also place them in China.  It wasn’t until the 8^th century, when the Moors invaded Spain, that eggplant made its way to Europe, though its early life in the West was limited to ornamental uses.  It was the Spanish and Portuguese who then brought the vegetable to Central and North America in the 16^th century where it readily adapted to the warm climates. Eggplant even made its way into Thomas Jefferson’s sprawling agricultural collection.

Not only is eggplant low in calories, sodium and fat and high in fiber and a variety of nutrients, it is said to have many medicinal benefits including: reducing swelling, clearing stagnant blood and possibly preventing strokes, hemorrhages and heart disease.  The National Cancer Institute has even been examining vegetables of the nightshade family, especially eggplant, to see if they may inhibit the production of steroidal hormones that encourage tumor growth. And just incase you run into an angry scorpion, applying raw eggplant to the sting is said to provide pain relief.

When shopping, look for eggplant that are heavy for their size and feel dense – avoid soft or puffy vegetables which could be a sign of age.  Some recipes call for salting eggplant pieces for a half hour or so before cooking; this absorbs the bitter liquid within the eggplant which tends to intensify with age, so salting young eggplant is rarely necessary (long cooking times, such as with stews, also rids the eggplant of bitterness so no need to salt in those cases either).  Be sure to wash away the salt, though, and taste before adding additional salt to the dish you’re cooking.  An added benefit to salting eggplant is that you end up with a more dense vegetable which then absorbs less fat in cooking.

 

A quick internet search will bring up a whole host of eggplant recipes but I do have a couple of new-to-me ideas to share:

1)      After buying a couple of gorgeous eggplants at the Greensboro curb market last Saturday, I sautéed peeled, ¼-inch slices in just a spray of canola oil (I use a fill-your-own pump-by-hand oil sprayer) until they were soft and golden, about 8 – 10 minutes per side then used in place of lasagna noodles in my favorite light cheese lasagna

2)      A man at the farmer’s market suggested grilling Japanese eggplant, the long skinny ones, until charred, then pulling off the skin and seasoning with a little soy sauce.  I’ll post the results once I try that one but if you beat me to it, please let me know how it goes!

 

There is a world of culinary delights, literally, waiting for you in the versatile flesh of the eggplant.  Enjoy!

 

 

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