What's the best way to cook eggplant?!
What's the best way to cook eggplant?
Also what are some other veggies that be cooked with it as a low cal main dish?
Answers:
Being Italian and all, my family cooks slices of eggplant in a pan with olive oil. Then we'll put it in some sauce and sprinkle Parmasean cheese on top.
But for Low cal, the best way for you is to probably grill it on a baking sheet (or BBQ it)
with olive oil and paprika. Grill any type of vegetables you'd like too. Spaghetti works well with that dish. That would be delish!
Good Luck!
saute it in olive oit with a little bit of garlic
One low-cal way that I've prepared eggplant that my family has absolutely LOVED, was this:
Slice eggplant into about 1/2" thick slices
Mix together about 3/4 cup low-fat mayo and diced up about 1 tbsp. of onions together.
In another bowl, mix about 3/4 cup breadcrumbs, maybe around 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning, some salt/pepper, and about 1-2 tbsp. of fine ground parmesan.
Coat eggplant slices with mayo mix on each side and then coat the sides with the breadcrumb mixture. Put on a greased cookie sheet and cook for about 8-10 minutes at 350, flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.
You can play around with the ingredients a bit (it's not the specific recipe above, but that's about what I use and I will usually just kind of add the above ingredients to taste and depending on how much eggplant I have). Using low-fat or no-fat mayo, this side dish stays quite low in fat and calories!
cook it with zucchini, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, carrots, and chopped cashews and splash on some soy sauce, yummy!
make ratatouille....... (pronounced : ratta-TOO- ee)
this dish features a variety of vegetables simmered in olive oil.
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup pure olive oil
2 yellow squash, diced
2 zucchini, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 medium eggplant, unpeeled and diced
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (optional)
Sauté onion and garlic in hot olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until tender.
Stir in yellow squash, next 6 ingredients, and, if desired, dried crushed red pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, 10 minutes.
Makes 8 servings.
Oh man, eggplant might be the greatest single food on the face of the earth. you can cook it in just about every way imaginable.
The best method is totally dependent on how you like the texture and surrounding tastes. So lets go through them.
-If you like dips, some eggplant fried or baked and then put in a food processor with some tomato, onion, garlic, olives, olive oil and whatever specific flavoring you like makes an incredible dip.
-If you like casseroles and cheese You can slice eggplant lengthwise and layer it in a deep dish pan along with tomato sauce, ricotta cheese mixed with a couple of eggs, parmagiano cheese and mozzorella cheese and cook it in the oven at 350, covered in wax paper and aluminum foil for 30-40 minutes. Then uncover it and cook for another 20+ minutes until the top is browned and bubbling near the edges. Incredible.
- If you like just the pure flavor of the eggplant, un-marred by surrounding flavors, you can simply cut the eggplant into lengthwise strips, lay them plain on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 for about 15-20 minutes - potentially more or less depedning on your oven.
-Baking eggplant is simple and low cal/fat and the baked strips can be used in dips, pasta (shredded with romano cheese and olive oil), tomato sauce, wine sauce, and sandwiches.
-However, the best method of cooking eggplant, in my opinion, as well as the most versatile is simply to cut the eggplant lengthwise, dip it in an egg bath, then some unseasoned, unsalted, extra fine bread crumbs, and fry them up, until golden brown, in hot olive oil. The resulting pieces of heaven are enjoyed alone, where they melt, literally like butter, in your mouth - as well as in basically all the above mentioned methods. Perhaps my favorite use of fried eggplant is to get an artisan roll, toast it, drizzle olive oil on one half and balsamic vinegar on the other. Layer it with a few pieces of eggplant- along with a couple of slices of fresh mozzerella and perhaps thin slices of tomato.
Now I'm salivating...
Oh, and one more thing, no matter what you do with eggplant, you should try to always soak it for a bit before, like 5-10 minutes. This helps to get rid of any residual bitterness.
Enjoy
bread it and cook it and put it on spagetti and put tomato sauce on it
Slice it, marinate it in a dressing and grill it as a luscious eggplant burger! Try sweet potato fries with it! (slice sweet potatoes into fry shape, coat with olive oil and seasonings, bake until crisp)
I like to bread and fry the eggplant, and than bake it in sauce. (350degrees for 15 minutes) It makes for an excellent dish.
pan fry it with some oignons and mushrooms
Low Fat Eggplant Bake
From Fiona Haynes,
Your Guide to Low Fat Cooking.
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This is like lasagna only there's no pasta. Slices of eggplant replace the noodles here. Spinach, low-sodium marinara sauce and fat free ricotta cheese help make this baked eggplant dish healthy and nutritious. Enjoy with a green salad on the side.
INGREDIENTS:
1 large or 2 medium eggplants―about 1 pound
1 jar low-sodium marinara sauce
1 15-ounce tub fat-free ricotta cheese, drained
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice eggplant lengthwise to a 1/4 inch thickness. Place on large cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Roast eggplant until tender, about 20 minutes, turning once half-way through.
When the eggplant is done, remove from oven and set aside.
Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.
Place baby spinach in microwaveable dish and sprinkle with water. Cook until just wilted. Squeeze dry.
Spoon on-third of the marinara sauce on the bottom of an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Lay one-third of eggplant slices over sauce, followed by one-third of the spinach and one-third of the ricotta cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbling.
Serves 4
Per Serving: Calories 306, Calories from Fat 29, Total Fat 3.2 (sat 1.6g), Cholesterol 73mg, Sodium 693mg, Carbohydrate 49.7g, Fiber 4.9g, Protein 19.5g
My wife sticks a metal skewer through it and roasts it over an open flame on our gas stove, until the skin turns black and it becomes soft and basically starts to oooze juices. Cut it open and scoop out the inside and place in bowl where you will lightly season with black pepper and sea salt with a squeeze of lemon and mush together with a fork till smooth. Delicious! It has a wonderful smokey west indian island taste.
There's nothing better than eggplant that has been sliced, coated with olive oil and rosemary and thrown on the grill. It is easy, delish, and it smells great. Prepare roasted veggies (Put a foil packet together with potatoes, garlic, bell pepper, sweet onion, squash, anything that can be roasted that you like and some spices like red pepper, black pepper, italian spices add just a little water and a little olive oil, seal the packet and throw on the grill next to the eggplant. Serve with cous cous and maybe a marinated and grilled portabello mushroom. it will be a feast!