The Purple Almond

UPDATE: July 13, 2018 – 7:55 p.m. – I made lasagna with my eggplant last night. I really enjoyed it. My family isn’t a fan of eggplant, but actually ate the lasagna. So, I give it a thumbs up.

Here’s part of my dinner tonight! Eggplant fries with homemade Tzatziki sauce that went with the burgers we made on our grill! YUM! I really liked them! (My boys, not so much. My better half thought they were okay- keep in mind, they don’t like eggplant!) If you like eggplant, you’ll definitely like these. Crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside. 

Eggplants! Quite frankly, they’re a mystery to me. I’ve gone out of my way to avoid them, never really knowing how to make or prepare them. But, they’ve been thrown my way so I’ve decided to embrace them,

Normally, I’d be posting a “How to Eat Healthy” article on food additives today. But, that sounded quite boring. I decided to put my food additive series on hold for the summer, in favor of something a bit more fun…RECIPES! So, today, I’m sharing my EGGPLANT RECIPE search results with all of you.

You see, I belong to a local food coop, which delivers locally grown vegetable/fruit boxes each week. For the past 2 weeks, I have received a mixture of different eggplants. Aren’t they gorgeous! I didn’t know they came in such beautiful colors! AND how about those white ones!!!

I also belong to a Facebook group called The Cook’s Cook Community Forum. Normally, I’d simply Google recipes, but this time, I decided to post a photo of my beautiful eggplants in the forum and ask for recipe suggestions. Boy am I glad I did! WOW! The people there were SOOO helpful! As of the writing of this article, 64 people had reacted to my photo (now at 78 as of last update) and DOZENS of people had replied to my request for recipe ideas. Below is a link to my post and a list of some of the dozens of suggestions made by the community:

Link to my eggplant Facebook Post on Cook’s Cook Community Forum

• Baba Gnoush
• Eggplant Casserole (I’ve discovered that this is moussaka)
• Caponata
• Roasted in the oven w olive oil , salt , pepper , garlic powder
• Fermented eggplant’, which was basically sliced and either fermented like pickles or like kimchi
• stuffed eggplant by Julia Child
• Grilled eggplant
• Lots of curry dishes with eggplants
• Fry them up and put Swiss or provolone, tomatoes, pickles and ketchup on them with a bun and make eggplant burgers.
• Mousakka
• Chinese style: Cut into chunks, pan fry them. Then spicy soy bean paste, ground meat, add in eggplants, oyster sauce, sugar, Chinese cooking wine, thicken the sauce with corn starch water, dish out. Serve with steamed rice.
• Cut vegetable length wise, Scoop out the middle, saute with other vegetables, onions and garlic (whatever seasoning you wish).Slightly cook skin in oven while sauteing the inside. Re-stuff eggplant case and bake for 15 mins @ 350 degrees; top off with cheddar cheese and bake for 3 mins, remove from oven. SERVE.
• Eggplant fries
• Pasta ala Norma
• Brinjal pickle.Great curried relish. So nice with potatoes and spinach served with lamb.
• Chinese garlic eggplant
•  Grilled (brush on some balsamic/olive oil marinade first), pasta alla Norma, and …we used to pickle … quite yummy! Fry them up like you would for parm and then freeze them. Then you can make eggplant parm any time with so little effort!
• Grilled with fresh mozzarella and tomato and basil drizzled with a good olive oil and balsamic.
• Toasted eggplant goes great on pizza
•  Eggplant lasagna, substituting the noodles with thin sliced egg plants. It was very good. She said it was easy. Hope this helps.
• Roast them with garlic, red onion, red pepper, zucchini and toss with orzo, lemon juice & olive oil. Serve at room temp for great summer side or main.
• Babaganouj
  Veggie Lasagna
  Skewer and grill it
  Stuff it–vegan/vegetarian/carnivorian
  Desserts
• Diced eggplant and potato curry in a spicy tomato gravy
• Baigan Bharata
• Stuff them with a crab meat stuffing and bake!
•  bake it, slice very thin and it is crispy like it is fried…salt for 20 minutes, rinse and then bread with 1) flour, 2) egg, and 3) bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese. Melt butter in Pyrex dish and get hot. Place eggplant in a single layer in 425 oven. Flip 1/2 way.
• Eggplant marinara to serve over pasta or layer in lasagna.
• Sausage and eggplant pasta, grilled eggplant salad
• Thin sliced and fried with Louisiana brand seasoned fish fry,  delicious!
• Slice them really thin. Bake the slices in olive oil. Make a hand- kneaded mixture of mozzarella, some prosciutto and mint leaf. Roll that in. One medium eggplant is good for some 15-16 rolls. Put these in a 200C oven for 10 minutes, sprinkled with some oil and white wine. A simple but delicious Puglia recipe, lovely !
• You can make them salad after you frying them add a sauce ( yougurt+garlic+ black paper and a bit of salt…) Also you can stuff them with a mixture of mince meat and rise and spiced with cumin..black paper .. salt
• Not pickled but tastes pickled if you spear them, steam them and toss them in a sauce (soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds and red chili pepper flakes or paprika). It is a traditional Korean side dish.
• Grilled Eggplant with lentils on top..Turkish..google it..several recipes will come up
• To pickle, slit small eggplants up to stem, but don’t cut through. Stream until just tender and drain for a couple of hours, weighted. Stuff with a mixture of minced celery, garlic, carrot, and chili pepper. Pack in jar, along with a couple of halved jalapeno or Fresno peppers. Cover with brine composed of 1 Tbsp. kosher salt per quart of water. Be sure all the eggplants are entirely submerged.  Cover jar with a cloth secured with a rubber band, and set at room temperature. They will ferment for 3 weeks or so. Taste to know when they’re ready. Store in refrigerator or use low-temperature pasteurization for room temperature storage.. These are very good.
• eggplant, olive, and red pepper tapenade.
• This is a very nice way of eating eggplant with chips, tortillas on the side or as an side-dish with rice. Baingan (Eggplant) Bharta with Curd (Yogurt)

Onto some recipes…

Some of the kind people in the group left links to recipes. Here they are!

(I’ve added a few of my own, based on some of the more popular suggestions)

EGGPLANT AND CHUTNEY

NILOUFER’S KITCHEN

Green Coconut Chutney

• 2 cups fresh or dry grated coconut
• 10-15 green chillies (or to taste)
• 1 packed cup coriander leaves
• 1 small raw green mango, peeled and chopped with seed removed
• Juice of ½-1 lemon
• 2 tbsp jaggery or sugar (or to taste)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 10 mint leaves
• Grind ingredients very finely to make a smooth chutney.
• The chutney should be spicy, sweet, and sour  tweaked to suit your taste.

Eggplant

• 8 long, thin Japanese eggplants with stems on, slit lengthwise on one side, leaving stem on

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE RECIPE

Vengna nu bharat

NILOUFER’S KITCHEN

• ½ kg large eggplant(s)
• 4 tbsp oil
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 finely chopped onions
• 4 spring onions finely chopped
• 4 spring green garlic finely chopped
• 1” piece ginger finely chopped
• 7 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 3-6 green chillies finely chopped
• 1 small bunch coriander leaves finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ¼ cups thick yoghurt (keep at room temperature)
• 2 tsp sugar

• Rigatoni With Sautéed Eggplant and Tomatoes

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

Rigatoni With Sautéed Eggplant and Tomatoes

REAL SIMPLE

• 12 ounces (5 1/2 cups) rigatoni
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• kosher salt and pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup fresh mint, torn
• 1/2 cup grated ricotta salata or Parmesan

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE RECIPE

Weeknight Skillet Eggplant Gratin

with Herbed Creme Fraiche

OLIVE JUDE

• 2-3 medium to large eggplants, sliced ½″ thick
• salt & pepper
• olive oil
• 1 32 ounce jar of tomato sauce, like Rao’s marinara
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh chives, finely sliced
• 3 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 12 ounce container of creme fraiche
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE RECIPE

The Best Baba Ganoush Recipe

SERIOUS EATS

• 3 medium Italian eggplants (about 2 pounds total)
• 3 medium cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon, plus more as desired
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• Kosher salt

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE RECIPE

Perfect Caponata

THE GUARDIAN

• 1 large aubergine (about 500g), cut into 2cm dice
• 1 large courgette, cut into 2cm dice
• Salt
• Vegetable or sunflower oil, to fry
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large red onion, sliced
• 2 celery sticks, cut into 2cm dice
• 1½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
• 150g ripe tomatoes, diced
• 40g capers
• 40g green olives, stoned and quartered
• 40g sultanas or raisins
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 150ml passata
• 100ml red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp grated dark chocolate
• 40g toasted almonds or pine nuts
• Small bunch of mint, leaves picked

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

Stir-Fry Szechwan Eggplant

CSA FOR THREE

• 2 lb eggplant, Asian style is best but I used a mix of Asian and traditional globe eggplant and it worked great
• 4 T vegetable oil, divided
• 2 T sesame oil, divided
• 1 T fresh ginger, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 t sriracha sauce, or to your taste
• 1/2 c water or vegetable broth
• 3 T soy sauce
• 1 T rice wine vinegar
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 T cornstarch
• Fresh cilantro for garnish

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

Grilled Shrimp and Eggplant

With Asian Fish Sauce and Mint

NY TIMES

• 2 ½ pounds eggplant, scrubbed, trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
• 1 pound extra large shrimp, shelled
• 1 large garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus sprigs for garnish
• 1 tablespoon nuoc mam or nam pla fish sauce, or to taste

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

MOROCCAN HONEY GLAZED EGGPLANT

BUNSEN BURNER BAKERY

• 2 large globe eggplants, thickly sliced
• salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 tablespoons honey
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons ginger, minced
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon harissa (substitute with a pinch of chili flakes or a slash of hot sauce if you can’t find harissa)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley, if you’re not a cilantro fan)

Moroccan Chicken with

Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Almonds

Bon Appetit

• 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 3 cups sliced onions
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon Hungarian sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cups drained canned diced tomatoes (from 28-ounce can)
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons (or more) fresh lemon juice
• 8 chicken thighs with bones, skinned
• 8 chicken drumsticks, skinned
• 1 large eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram
• 1/2 cup whole blanched almonds or slivered almonds, toasted
• Chopped fresh cilantro

Chinese Yu Xiang Eggplant

CHINA SICHUAN FOOD

• 2 Asian long eggplants
• 3 pickled red pepper (or replace with fresh Thai red peppers), finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon broad bean paste (Doubanjiang)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
• 2 green onions, white part and green part separately chopped
• Coriander for decoration
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon salt for soaking

• 1 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoons black vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cooking wine
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• Salt as needed

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

Grilled Marinated Eggplant

EPICURIOUS

• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 1 medium garlic clove, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Sicilian
• 1/4 teaspoon minced peperoncini or red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium eggplant (3/4 pound), peeled and sliced about 1/3″ thick
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

GRAIN FREE LASAGNA

GLUTEN & GRAIN FREE GOURMET

• 1-2 eggplants, sliced 1/2″-3/4″ thick (need a yield of 8 slices)
• 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 15-16 oz. container ricotta or cottage cheese (drained)
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 2 Tablespoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup fresh spinach leaves (optional)
• 1 cup marinara sauce (time-saving tip: use Aldi’s organic basil spaghetti sauce – it’s grain free and soy free!)
• 1-2 cups meat sauce (I use our family recipe, but you don’t have one, just brown some ground beef, oregano, and garlic salt; add some fresh or canned tomatoes and simmer for an hour)
• 4-5 slices of mozzarella, Monterey jack or other white cheese of preference (shredded is fine, but shred from bar cheese – the commercial varieties often contain corn starch, potato starch, or other fillers to keep it from sticking together)

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

Classic Pasta alla Norma

NY TIMES

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
•  Salt and pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
•  Pinch of crushed red pepper
• 12 basil leaves, plus a few basil sprigs for garnish
• 4 cups peeled, chopped tomatoeswith juice, fresh or canned
• 3 or 4 small eggplants (about 2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 pound pasta, such as penne, rigatoncini or spaghetti
• 1 cup coarsely grated ricotta salata
• ¼ cup toasted bread crumbs, preferably homemade

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

MOUSSAKA (GREEK EGGPLANT CASSEROLE)

SAVEUR

• 2 cups plus 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 bay leaves
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 lb. ground beef
• ¹⁄₄ cup tomato paste
• 1 ¹⁄₂ tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting
• ¹⁄₂ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• ¹⁄₄ tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 ¹⁄₂ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 (28-oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes in juice, crushed
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 cup flour
• 4 cups milk
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3 large eggplant, cut into ¹⁄₄″-thick slices
• 5 medium russet potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 cup coarsely grated graviera or Gruyère
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

BAKED EGGPLANT FRIES WITH

GREEK TZATZIKI SAUCE

THE MEDITERANEAN DISH

• 1 medium eggplant
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup bread crumbs 
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Pinch salt and pepper
• Olive oil cooking spray

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE EGGPLANT FRIES RECIPE

FOR TZATZIKI SAUCE:

• 3/4 English cucumber, partially peeled (striped) and sliced
• 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 medium head garlic, about 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups whole milk or 2 % Greek yogurt
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• Warm pita bread for serving
• Sliced vegetables for serving

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE TZATZIKI SAUCE RECIPE

Imam Bayıldı

TURKISH HOME COOKING

• 1 red , 1 yellow, 1 green bell pepper all sliced thinly
• 1 carrot sliced thinly
• 1 onion sliced thinly
• 1 dried persimmon ( you can use any dry fruit like appricots, prunes etc)
• 10 small eggplants
• 7 – 8 wallnuts
• 1 spoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil to fry the eggplants
• 1 bowl of water with 1 lemon sliced in it and 1 table spoon salt take away the bitterness of the eggplants.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE RECIPE

Julia Child’s Stuffed Eggplant

EPICURIOUS

• 3 eggplants
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup finely minced onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 pound finely minced fresh mushrooms (I used white button mushrooms)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 1/2 ounces cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons parsley, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 3 tablespoons grated Swiss cheese
• 3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

AND…a couple of people left videos!

Chinese Crispy Sautéed Eggplant

EGGPLANT/BRINJAL

I also decided to do a Google search. Here are some links to eggplant recipe lists on other sites.

• FOOD NETWORK
• ALL RECIPES
• BON APPETIT
• REAL SIMPLE
• MARTHA STEWART
• GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
• BUZZFEED (This one was suggested by a member of the forum, and contains DESSERTS made with vegetables!)
• FLY N THINGS (Please support our fellow blogger! Head over and check out the eggplant recipes!)

Well, there you have it! WOW! I must say, I’m a bit overwhelmed. I have so much to look through and decide what to make. If you’re unfamiliar with eggplant, as I am,  I hope this post gave you some ideas. If you are familiar with eggplant, perhaps this article gave you some inspiration for new ways to prepare this beautiful fruit (yes, it is technically a fruit!)

UNTIL NEXT TIME, NAMASTE MY FRIENDS!