Eggplant Recipes
Basic Eggplant "Spaghetti” (Janet)
2 medium eggplant
salt
Pam
28 oz can pureed tomatoes
3 minced cloves garlic
oregano
1 packet sweetener (optional)
Roll of Bounty for draining
Peel eggplant, cut off ends. Weigh eggplant at this time. Slice thinly the long way. Lay paper towels on counter, lay eggplant on top of them in one layer. Salt all over, cover with more paper towels, and leave 15 minutes. Lay more dry paper towels on another part of counter, turn slices over onto them, salt other side, cover with more paper towels, pressing down to absorb liquid, leave 15 minutes. Rinse all slices with cold water, pat thoroughly dry. Now stack slices and cut with very sharp knife into long thin strands. Heat large sauté pan and spray with Pam. Throw in minced garlic and cook, stirring, till fragrant. Throw in eggplant 'spaghetti.’ Cook on high, stirring frequently. Right now you are drying out the rest of the liquid and cooking the strands. Cook like this for 5 minutes. Now pour in the tomato puree, lower heat and stir. Add generous amount of oregano and sprinkle the sweetener and keep stirring. Enjoy!!
Options:
(1) Use petit diced tomatoes instead of puree for a change
(2) Chinese Style: Follow directions above up till you have cooked the 'noodles' for 5 minutes. Then remove & keep warm. Spray pan with Pam again. Stir fry onions cut into thin wedges, the minced garlic, a teaspoon of minced ginger & a couple of sliced scallions. Then add about a cup of blanched broccoli florets or green beans. Stir for a minute or two, add 1/4 cup veggie broth or water & cover, leave 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then throw in eggplant, stir, and add about 1/4 cup Braggs. Keep stirring till liquid is evaporated. Enjoy!!
Note: All veggies must be weighed before cooking. Add that weight to the tomato sauce amount. This amount of veggie broth and/or Braggs is a freebee
If your veggies weigh 3 lbs altogether, you can divide final dish into 6 containers & each would be 1/2 lb veggie allowance.
Eggplant Lasagna (Janet)
2 large eggplants,
sliced about 1/2" thick the long way
2lb bag fresh raw spinach
package of fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 large white onions - cut the ends off, cut in 1/2 top to bottom, lay on side
and slice into slices that will be half circles
LEGAL vegetable broth
28 oz can crushed
or petit diced tomatoes - be sure to read ingredients
oregano, basil, garlic, sweetener (optional)
There are several parts: making the sauce, making the caramelized onions, making the spinach/mushroom layer, baking the sliced eggplant, and the assembly. You can make the sauce, spinach/mushrooms and caramelized onions the day before just so you are not cooking for so many hours. You also must weigh all the veggies before cooking. Add the weights together and add the 28 oz tomatoes too.
The weight usually comes to about 6 -10 lbs. When Janet makes the entire 'lasagna" she cuts it into 10 or 12 portions so each is 3/4 lb or whatever it comes to.
Spray cookie sheets with PAM and lay eggplant slices as close together as possible. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes, turn and bake 10 minutes more. They should be slightly brown and soft. This step should be done just before assembling.
Meanwhile spray a very large frying pan and put all the onions in. Keep cooking and stirring often. Every time the pan gets dry add some veggie broth. They should be golden brown and soft. This can be done the day before assembling and refrigerated.
Spray very large frying pan with PAM and add the mushrooms. Add a tablespoon or so of vegetable broth and cover. Cook a few minutes, stirring, then add spinach and add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable broth and cover. In a few minutes the spinach will shrink all the way down. Stir altogether and put aside. This also can be done the day before.
Put tomatoes in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer at least 20 minutes then add basil and oregano to taste. Janet usually adds a packet of sweetener at the end but other people sweeten with grated carrots or they don't feel the need to sweeten. Janet feel sweetener or carrots cut the acidity of the tomatoes but it is totally your call. This sauce can be made a day or two ahead and refrigerated until assembling.
To assemble: Spray large Pyrex (or other) baking dish. Layer eggplant then spinach/mushroom mixture, then onions, then sauce. Repeat. If there's enough eggplant slices, lay on top and put a little sauce. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Let sit a bit before slicing. Janet usually puts the portions in Tupperware containers, eat one, refrigerate one. and freeze the rest. It is a lot of work but it makes so many portions and Janet says, ..."believe me it's simply amazing!!!!!!"
Curried Eggplant (Gilda)
If you like curries, this is a great way to use Walden Farms Marinara:
1lb Chinese or Japanese eggplant –
the long, thin ones – cut in bite size pieces
2 cloves garlic – minced
1 cup Walden Farms Marinara Sauce
2 teaspoons curry powder
1-1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Pinch ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 packet Xylitol Plus (or Splenda or any other approved sweetener)
Spray a skillet with some Pam. Put in the eggplant and sauté (Gilda laid it in with the flat cut side down) and when the eggplant gets brown on the cooked side, throw in the minced garlic; give it a stir and let it sauté for about another minute or two. Add the curry powder, fresh ginger, cloves, salt and sweetener into the marinara sauce, mix well and pour over the eggplant – toss to coat and cover and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes….Can be served hot or cold – try it with the cauliflower “rice.” It’s even better the next day.
Eggplant (Phyllis)
Peel, slice thin and soak in salted water for 30 minutes. Drain. Spray non-stick cooking spray in pan and sauté slices a few at a time on both sides until brown. Phyllis said these are so good that the almost ate the whole eggplant before it got to the table!
Eggplant variation (Phyllis)
Slice tomatoes
into thin slices. Chop two onions and sauté in cooking spray and a little
water until they begin to caramelize. Peel and slice an eggplant thinly.
Soak for 30 minutes in salted water. Spray a loaf pan with PAM.
Place some onion on the bottom then a layer of eggplant two slices thick then
tomatoes. Repeat. (You could add a layer of sliced mushrooms if you
like.) Season with salt, pepper, and Oregano. Use garlic powder if you
wish.
Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes.
Can be served warm or at room temp. It’s really wonderful.
Eggplant Manicotti (SnowBunny) (without the cheese)
1 large eggplant sliced long ways.
Soak eggplant in a little salt water
1 frozen bag cut leaf spinach
1/2 onion
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 large can diced tomatoes with garlic, onion, and oregano.
Sauté spinach in PAM, onion, and crushed garlic until tender. Season
to taste with salt. Saute each slice of eggplant in a pan with PAM until
almost translucent. Set aside.
When slices are cooled, spread the cooked spinach on the slices and roll them up
and place in a baking dish. Pour the canned tomatoes over the top of the
rolls and cover.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
Eggplant Curry Recipe (Helen)
Take an eggplant, peel it, cube it and salt it - let it stand for 30 minutes.
(This draws out a lot of the acids and bitter taste).
Prep other veggies - broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc. (whatever
you like)
Rinse the eggplant.
Put some green curry (whatever amount desired) in a pan with coconut milk
NO MORE THAN 1 TBSP.
Cook the eggplant in the curry and coconut milk.
Blanche the other veggies.
Once the eggplant is a little soft, add the other veggies to the curry mixture to soak in all of the other flavor, don't forget to salt and pepper.
Leave it on the stove for 20 minutes or so.
What's neat about doing it this way is that the eggplant totally breaks down and becomes part of the sauce and it’s REALLY GOOD!
Another Eggplant variation (Janet's Caponata)
Cube a large eggplant, spritz a large frying pan and sauté the eggplant in it until it starts to get soft and change color. You can add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable broth to help it cook. Once softened, take it out of the pan and spritz pan again and add a couple of very large diced onions. Also add about 6 large minced garlic cloves (don't mince too tiny). Cook onions and garlic until soft, again adding a tablespoon or two of vegetable broth or hot water. Then add the eggplant and one large can of diced tomatoes. Sprinkle quite a bit of oregano and if you like, fresh basil. Stir it all up, add 1 to 2 packets of Splenda or xylitol, mix it all again, turn heat low, cover and cook about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. It is so good hot, warm, cold, or whatever! You can use it with spaghetti squash also.
Roasted Eggplant Garlic Soup (Pat)
1 large eggplant
1 whole head garlic
1 large red onion ( chopped )
1/2 tea thyme ( dried )
1/4 cup basil or 1/2 fresh chopped
1 can whole Italian tomatoes ( 28 oz )
2 cups veggie stock
2 cups water
salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 375. Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut off top of garlic head. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a spritz of Pam. Wrap garlic in foil leaving top exposed. Roast eggplant and foil wrapped garlic in a PAM-sprayed pan for 20 minutes, remove eggplant and continue roasting garlic 20 more minutes. Chop eggplant into bite-size pieces.
In a large PAM-sprayed soup pot, sauté onions and spices until soft. Squeeze garlic into pot, add tomatoes, eggplant, stock and water. Bring to boil. Lower and simmer 20 minutes. Puree in pot with Immersion blender or leave chunky. Your choice. Correct seasonings. This makes enough for many 1 cup servings. Also freezes well for next 2 veggie days.