EGGPLANT: the most versatile vegetable in the kitchen.

IT is said in the Middle East that a woman is not ready to marry until she knows 1,000 ways to cook eggplant. It may seem an unreasonable demand to American women, many of whom marry before they know how to cook anything at all.

The saying is less about preparing women for marriage, though, than it is about the amazing versatility of the eggplant. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/25/dining/more-than-just-the-color-purple.html

Fresh-picked Italian eggplants

                                                                                       

     One of my favorite vegetables, eggplant fresh-picked from the garden is a special part of our summer menus.  This meaty vegetable is so versatile – it can be sautéed, fried, baked, and grilled.  It's often used as a main meal, a side dish, or pickled.  Aside from its great taste it has many health benefits

     Eggplant comes in a range of colors and shapes. The large, kidney-shaped purple eggplant is the most common variety. 

Great:

Grilled

Eggplant lasagna



As a side dish 



Fried

We grow the round Italian variety. Their seeds are much less prominent, making them ideal for stuffing and pickling.

Stuffed Italian eggplants

Some people object to eggplant’s skin.  Actually, the skin of purple eggplants contains its most valuable nutrient.  Choose the purple varieties when you shop, and leave the skin on.

Meatless Stuffed Eggplants - Melanzane Ripiene Vegetariane

Meatless stuffed eggplants (Melanzane ripiene vegetariane)

 

Stuffed eggplants are one of our favorite dishes.  The filling can be modified in many ways: more spicy (adding a peperoncino), tastier (adding more cheese at the end of cooking), while the meat may be beef, pork, veal only, or a mix of veal and pork.  The choice is yours!  See Stuffed eggplants alla casalese.
 

Choosing eggplants is a ritual:  look for even color and firm feel. The eggplant should be heavy relative to its size; when you pick it up at the market, it should be firm and crisp, not spongy, to the touch.

In this case, I recommend you do not buy too big to shorten cooking time.

Ingredients
6 small to medium eggplants
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red or green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups cubes of day-old country bread
1 cup water
1 cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 can pitted ripe olives, chopped
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour the water over the bread cubes in a small bowl. Once the bread has softened, squeeze out the excess water.  Crumble and set aside.

Cut one end of the eggplants.  Wash and halve the eggplants lengthwise. With a small paring knife, score the flesh and cut the eggplant around, leaving a 1/4-inch border from the skin. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon, leaving eggplant shells or boats for baking. 

Salt the cavity of the eggplant shells.  Place the eggplant shells (cavity down) to drain for 30 minutes.

Chop the eggplant flesh.  Place the flesh into a pot filled with water.  After 10 minutes or so, drain.  Rinse few more times in a colander under running water.  Squeeze out the excess water.

Mix eggplant flesh, bread, cheese, garlic, tomatoes, green pepper, black olives, parsley and black pepper. 

 Drizzle a little of the oil over each shell.  Fill in the eggplant shells. 

Place the filled shells one next to the other in a greased pan. 

Drizzle remaining olive oil over each shell.  Cover the dish with foil, and bake until the eggplant is tender all the way through, about 40 to 45 minutes. Uncover, and bake until the top of the filling is browned and crispy, about 10 minutes more.



COLOR YOU DIET

 

A colorful, balanced diet is associated with good health.

Vegetables from our garden

So what does color have to do with diet anyway?   According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, deeply colored vegetables -- whether green, yellow, orange, or red -- and dark leafy greens offer the most protective health benefits against cancer and other diseases. 








The more brightly colored the vegetable, the more protective the health benefits, thanks to a rich assortment of plant compounds called phytochemicals.

 

Fruits should also be an important part of our overall healthy eating plan.  Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, said that “to maximize the benefit, you actually want a variety” of fruits. He advises “eating the rainbow,” since different colors signal different types of antioxidants and nutrients.

I challenge myself daily to keep my dishes colorful.

Fried peppers

Spinach and brown rice

Sauteed mushrooms

Cream of squash soup

Zucchini, potatoes and eggplant casserole









 

 

 

 

 

Penne with Eggplant and Mint Pesto - Penne con Melanzane e Pesto di Menta

Mint is a very fresh and tasty spice, unfortunately, little used in the culinary world.  We enjoy it in string beans.  Not everyone knows but mint makes also a great pesto sauce for pasta.

This dish is a splendid variation on the classic Italian Pesto.  I use fresh mint from my garden rather than basil for a different flavor.  

   

 Ingredients
 3 small eggplants or 2 large ones
1 lb. penne
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 oz. walnut halves


For the Pesto
2 oz. fresh mint minced
3 oz. walnuts minced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes in oil
Salt and pepper

Procedure
Cut the eggplants into short strips.  Place eggplant strips in a colander with salt and leave to stand for 30 minutes.  Rinse well and drain.  Squeeze to remove excess moisture.  In a pan, add 2 tablespoons of oil and saute' eggplant for few minutes on medium heat.  Set aside.

Cook penne until nearly cooked.  Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.   Put cooked penne back into the pot.  Add reserved water.  Place pasta pot over the stove on low heat.  Add the eggplant, minced mint, garlic, walnuts, red pepper flakes, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Stir gently and mix well.   Cook the pasta for few minutes.  Add walnut halves and serve immediately.

Penne with eggplant and Mint Pesto

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