It is believed that eggplant, due to the potassium they contain, has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the heart and normalizes the water-salt metabolism of the body. It is not without reason that in the East they are called vegetables of longevity and are recommended to be eaten regularly by older people. In addition, eggplants are low in calories: only 24 kcal per 100 grams of product. At the same time, they help cleanse the intestines. What you need if you follow the figure.
But sometimes even the benefit is not an argument. Even today, many housewives consider eggplants to be too capricious: they either turn black or bitter. Although these troubles are easy to avoid.
- Soak eggplant in salted water for half an hour before cooking. Then rinse. This will take the bitterness out of the vegetables.
- If you are cooking caviar, do not pass the eggplant through a meat grinder and do not cut it with a metal knife. This can give the dish an unpleasant aftertaste. Grind the blue ones with a ceramic or wooden cutter.
- So that eggplants do not absorb a lot of fat when frying, pre-scald them with boiling water.
- To prevent the flesh from turning black, cook the eggplant over high heat.
- If you want the eggplant slices or rounds to stay in shape when cooked, leave the skin on.
Moussaka
jabiru/Depositphotos.comThis is a traditional dish of eggplant and minced meat for the Balkans and the Middle East. Delicious and very satisfying.
Ingredients:
- 800 g eggplant;
- 800 g minced lamb or beef;
- 300 g of tomatoes;
- 1 onion;
- 50 g of hard cheese;
- 180 g of dry white wine;
- olive oil for frying;
- salt and pepper to taste.
For sauce:
- 500 ml milk ;
- 40 g butter;
- 30 g flour;
- 200 g of hard cheese;
- 2 eggs;
- salt and nutmeg to taste.
Cooking
Let's start with the sauce. Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the flour in it. In parallel, heat the milk a little (do not boil!). In order for the sauce to turn out without lumps, the milk and the mixture of butter and flour should be about the same temperature. Milk, stirring constantly, pour into the pan to the butter and flour. Salt, add nutmeg. Bring to a boil and then add the grated cheese. We continue to cook, not forgetting to stir until the cheese is melted. Then we remove from the fire. While the mixture is cooling, beat the eggs in a separate bowl. After that, slowly pour them into the sauce, mixing thoroughly. The sauce is ready.
Onions for moussaka should be cut into half rings, peeled from tomatoes and chopped into cubes. Eggplant cut into thin oblong slices (do not forget to soak them in salted water!) And fry in olive oil on both sides. After frying, they should be laid out on paper towels to absorb excess fat. You also need to fry the onion (until soft) and minced meat. In the middle of frying, pour wine into the onion and minced meat and cook until the liquid has evaporated. After that, add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and simmer for a few more minutes.
Assemble the moussaka: put the eggplant and minced meat in layers in a baking dish so that the eggplant is on top. Pour sauce over everything and sprinkle with grated cheese. We send it to the oven, heated to 180 ° C, for 30-40 minutes.
caponata
fanfon/depositphotos.com This is a Sicilian stew made from eggplant and other vegetables. It is eaten both hot and cold, served as an independent dish, as well as a side dish and snack.
Ingredients:
- 800 g eggplant;
- 150 g olives;
- 90 g capers;
- 140 g of onions;
- 50 g of sugar;
- 400 ml of tomato paste;
- 80 ml of wine white vinegar;
- olive oil for frying;
- basil, salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking
Peel the eggplant, cut into cubes and fry in olive oil. So that the vegetables are not too fatty, they can be lightly doused with boiling water before frying.
In a separate bowl, caramelize the onion with sugar (do not use butter) until golden. Then we add capers there (recall that they can be pickled cucumbers), olives, wine vinegar and a little bit of olive oil. Simmer all this for about five minutes, after which we add the fried eggplant and tomato paste. Cook for another 7-10 minutes. A couple of minutes before readiness, add finely chopped fresh basil, salt and pepper to taste. Be careful with salt. In general, you can do without it, since capers usually give the dish the necessary salinity.
lasagna
Dorothy Puray-Isidro/Ühutterstock.com This is a variation of a traditional Italian dish where eggplant replaces the dough.
Ingredients:
- 800 g eggplant;
- 500 g minced beef;
- 500 g thick tomato paste;
- 100 g mozzarella;
- 100 g parmesan;
- 100 g breadcrumbs;
- 2 eggs;
- 2 tablespoons of water;
Cooking
We clean the eggplant and cut into circles about one and a half centimeters thick. In a bowl, beat the eggs with two tablespoons of water. In a separate bowl, mix grated parmesan, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Dip each eggplant round first into the beaten eggs and then into the breadcrumbs and cheese mixture. Lay the eggplant on a baking sheet greased with olive oil. Preheat the oven to 180 ° C and send the eggplants there for 20-25 minutes, until the vegetables acquire a uniform golden crust.
At this time, fry the minced meat in olive oil (if desired, it can be salted and peppered). After about 10 minutes, add tomato paste to the minced meat. Bring the mixture to a boil and remove from heat.
Put a part of the eggplants in a baking dish, then cover them with tomato-meat sauce, sprinkle with 50 grams of mozzarella and put the eggplants on top again. If the shape is small and there are a lot of fillings, you can make several layers. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top and send it to the oven (200 ° C) for 10-15 minutes (the cheese should melt).
Spaghetti dressing
finaeva_i/Shutterstock.com Eggplant can not only replace pasta, but also perfectly complement it. For example, they can be used to make vegetable sauce for spaghetti.
Ingredients:
- 800 g eggplant;
- 500 g spaghetti;
- 400 g of tomatoes;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- olive oil;
- basil;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking
For this recipe, eggplant must first be baked in the oven. This will take about an hour: you need the vegetables to become soft. While the eggplant is baking, boil the spaghetti. Remove the eggplants from the oven, let them cool slightly, and then carefully remove the skin from them.
Finely chop the garlic and fry in hot olive oil for two minutes. Then add the diced tomatoes. Simmer until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. At the end of cooking, add the diced eggplant, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with spaghetti on the table. The dish can be sprinkled with chopped basil.
cutlets
Nataliya Arzamasova/Shutterstock.com Ingredients:
- 3 small eggplants;
- 400 g fillet of chum salmon or other sea fish of your choice;
- 100 g of hard cheese;
- 100 g butter;
- 2 tomatoes;
- 1 onion;
- salt and herbs to taste.
Cooking
We cut off the stalks of the eggplants and cut the eggplants lengthwise to make “boats” (3 eggplants = 6 boats). Do not remove the skin - it will retain the shape of vegetables and the appearance of the dish. We cut the fish and tomatoes into small cubes, if desired, you can first remove the skin from the tomatoes. Finely chop the onion.
Put the eggplant boats on a baking sheet, greased with oil. Inside each of them we put fish, tomatoes, onions and a little bit of butter. Salt, pepper and sprinkle with herbs to your taste. Then sprinkle each serving with grated cheese. We send the eggplants to a well-heated oven for 30-50 minutes. You can eat this dish with a spoon, scraping the pulp from the walls of the eggplant.
Grilled eggplant salad
www.foodnetwork.com This simple salad can be made outdoors. It will be an excellent addition to other grilled meat dishes.
Ingredients:
- 1 large eggplant;
- 1 purple onion;
- 1 avocado;
- 1 lemon;
- rapeseed and olive oil;
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar;
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard;
- oregano and parsley;
- salt and black ground pepper to taste.
Cooking
Cut the eggplant into circles about 2.5 centimeters thick. Peel the onion and cut into large rings. Spray these vegetables with rapeseed oil and until soft. When the eggplant and onion have cooled down a bit, cut them, as well as the peeled avocado into large cubes.
Prepare the dressing in a separate bowl. Combine red wine vinegar, mustard and chopped oregano. Add liquid honey and olive oil. Let the mixture brew a little, and then season the salad with it. Salt, pepper, decorate with lemon slices and parsley sprigs.
Sticks in batter
Tatiana Vorona/Shutterstock.com This is a light summer snack. Eggplant cooked according to this recipe is low-fat, tender on the inside and with a crispy cheese crust on the outside.
Ingredients:
- 500 g eggplant;
- 150 g of hard cheese;
- 1 egg;
- 100 g breadcrumbs;
- 3-4 cloves of garlic;
- olive oil;
- salt, ground black pepper, paprika and turmeric to taste.
Cooking
We cut the eggplant into strips about 3 centimeters thick and fill it with salted water to remove the bitterness. After drying the eggplant slices on a paper towel, put them in a bowl, sprinkle with olive oil and sprinkle with spices (salt, pepper, paprika, turmeric, garlic passed through a press). We leave for 5-10 minutes.
At this time, we rub the cheese and mix it with breadcrumbs. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl.
We put baking paper on a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 200 ° C. Dip each eggplant slice first in the egg and then in the cheese and breadcrumbs mixture and place on a baking sheet. Cook the sticks in the oven for about 20 minutes. You can eat them both hot and cold - they are equally delicious.
Rolls
Shebeko/Shutterstock.com There are many variations of eggplant rolls. Some people just fry the vegetable, others bake it. Some use only cheese for the filling, others add carrots, mushrooms or tomatoes. We offer you the easiest cooking option.
Ingredients:
- 500 g eggplant;
- 100 g cream cheese;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- olive oil for frying;
- salt, pepper and herbs to taste.
Cooking
Cut off the tops of the eggplant and cut into slices about a centimeter thick. After getting rid of the bitterness (see life hacks above), fry the eggplants in olive oil. Remove excess fat with a paper towel. If you prefer roasted vegetables, use the oven.
Pass the garlic through a press, finely chop the greens. All this is mixed with cream cheese (if desired, salt, pepper and add other spices). We spread the cheese mass in a thin layer on the eggplant. We wrap each plate with a roll and fasten it with a toothpick. We spread the rolls on lettuce leaves and sprinkle with chopped walnuts (optional).
Turrets
KaterynaSednieva/Depositphotos.com This appetizer is easy to prepare and spectacular in appearance. Eggplant turrets, laid out on a large plate and decorated with greenery, are perfect for the festive table.
Ingredients:
- 400 g eggplant;
- 400 g of tomatoes;
- 300 g mozzarella;
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil;
- balsamic vinegar;
- salt, ground black pepper and basil to taste.
Cooking
Peeled eggplant cut into circles about a centimeter thick. Salt, pepper and fry on both sides in olive oil. We also cut the tomatoes into rounds. Cut the mozzarella into slices. The thickness of the cheese and tomatoes should be about a centimeter.
In a baking dish, greased with oil, we “build” turrets: an eggplant circle, a tomato circle and a slice of cheese. Garnish each serving with basil sprigs and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. We send all this to the oven (200 ° C) for 15-20 minutes.
Snack "Peacock Tail"
rutxt.ru Another bright eggplant appetizer. Thanks to the unusual "design", the dish will appeal not only to adults, but also to children who rarely eat vegetables willingly.
Ingredients:
- 500 g eggplant;
- 300 g of tomatoes;
- 200 g cucumbers;
- 200 g feta cheese;
- half a can of olives;
- 3 tablespoons of sour cream;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- olive oil;
- Dill;
- salt to taste.
Cooking
Cut the eggplant diagonally to make oval slices. Soak in salted water, rinse and dry. After that, lay out on a baking sheet, sprinkle with olive oil and bake for 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 200 ° C.
Pass the garlic through a press and mix with sour cream and feta cheese until smooth. Cut tomatoes and cucumbers into slices. It is desirable that the latter are smaller in diameter than the former. Cut the pitted olives in half.
On a large oblong plate lay out the eggplant in the shape of a peacock's tail. Lubricate each piece with cheese mass. Then we put on them a mug of tomato and cucumber. Again, a little cheese with garlic, and at the end - half an olive. It should look like the eyes on a peacock's tail.
Heh
Stas_K/Depositphotos.com Hye is a Korean dish usually made with meat, fish, or vegetables such as eggplant. Eggplant heh can be served as a side dish for meat or as an independent meal.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 kg of eggplant;
- 100 g paprika;
- 1 hot capsicum;
- 7-8 garlic cloves;
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- vinegar.
Cooking
We cut the eggplant into cubes and get rid of the bitterness in the usual way. After that, fry them in vegetable oil. Cut the hot capsicum into thin rings and chop (not too finely) the garlic. We spread eggplant, garlic and pepper in layers in a plastic container. Sprinkle with vinegar, sprinkle with a little paprika, and repeat the layers until the container is full. The amount of pepper, garlic, paprika and vinegar vary to your taste. If you do not like spicy, add these ingredients to a minimum. We cover the filled container with a lid and put it in the refrigerator for a day.
Eggplants open up scope for culinary imagination: the list of dishes from them can be continued for a long time. We encourage you to do so in the comments. Write if you like eggplant and share your signature recipes.
Eggplant (blue) is a unique vegetable with which country housewives do not get tired of experimenting.
And this is not at all accidental - in terms of the number of dishes that can be prepared from it, it, perhaps, will not yield to any other product from the garden bed. In India, eggplant has long been considered the king among vegetables. In our country, he is still yielding the throne to potatoes, but Yuri Savichev has already dedicated a poetic ode to him:
"Oh eggplant! You're in an oily smile
Among appetizers as the first violin»
It's August, eggplants are ripening with might and main, and it's time to talk about what can be cooked from them, how to prepare them for the winter. But first - a small list of important tricks of eggplant processing.
Little secrets of a big vegetable
- Fully ripe and overripe eggplants are not only undesirable, but even harmful: they contain a lot of solanine and can cause poisoning. Therefore, like cucumbers, Eggplants are eaten unripe.
- The most useful stewed or baked eggplant
- Eggplant is best combined in dishes with lamb, sour cream, yogurt, tomatoes, cheese, as well as basil, coriander and cumin.
- The skin of an eggplant is most often removed before cooking. Meanwhile, it is very useful, so it is best to use young fruits with a thin shell, then you won’t have to get rid of it.
- Eggplant absorbs a lot of oil when frying. To avoid this, a 10-minute "bath" of the sliced \u200b\u200bslices in cold water will allow
- Fresh fruits are not recommended to be stored in the refrigerator for a long time.
- Eggplant has a diuretic effect
What can be cooked from eggplant
This fruit is interesting because it can be salted and marinated, dried and frozen, baked, boiled and fried, cooked dietary and the most "killer" dishes in terms of spiciness.Eggplant snacks
They are always a table decoration. These are the notorious "Teschin tongue", "Peacock's tail", rolls and many other cold snacks. Unripe eggplants are fried in sunflower oil or baked in the oven, after being cut into transverse or longitudinal slices. And then they are stuffed with cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, carrots, walnuts, mixed with tomatoes, herbs, sweet peppers or seasoned with yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise or marinade. There are a lot of recipes for eggplant snacks, but the field for experimentation is still boundless
How to quickly cook a delicious dish "Eggplant for mushrooms", shown in this video
They are very popular. Vegetables, all kinds of cereals, mushrooms and meat are used for fillings. Most often, the entire eggplant pulp is carefully selected and the resulting space is completely filled with the filling, but the “lazy” method of stuffing is also quite possible: the prepared filling is simply inserted into the longitudinal section - and the dish is ready.
Salads
Eggplants are great for salads. Most often, this vegetable is fried. The rest of the ingredients are selected according to taste - as a rule, they are tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, olives, beans, sweet onions and, of course, greens (please note: this list is far from complete - tastes have no boundaries). For dressing salads, use lemon juice or yogurt, olive oil or mayonnaise, vinegar, or mixtures specially prepared from herbs and spices.
frozen eggplant
A very convenient form of harvesting eggplant for the winter. Pre-baked in the oven and frozen, they will become a lifesaver for the hostess in winter: such a semi-finished product is perfect for making casseroles, stews or for a delicious vegetable side dish.Elena Koneva talks about this in detail and shows it in a video from our video channel:
Baked eggplant
Unusually delicious. They are baked with minced meat and onions, with cheese and tomatoes, with cheese and garlic, with parmesan and mozzarella, and with many other products. And if you bake eggplant with zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, herbs and spices, you get the famous Ratatouille.How to bake eggplant with cheese and tomatoes can be seen in the next video
Salted eggplant
Like pickles, they are recognized as a noble snack. Salting can be done both wet and dry. The salting process is extremely simple: it is enough to add horseradish and garlic, basil, cinnamon and cloves to cut longitudinally eggplants, shifted with dill and tarragon, and pour brine. After 1-1.5 months, salted eggplants are ready. Dry salting is even easier - eggplants are simply sprinkled with salt and spices and put under oppression. Salted eggplants can be rolled up for the winter ..Caviar
Eggplant caviar is very popular, which, thanks to the film "Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession", received world fame as "Overseas Caviar". There are many recipes for its preparation; its main components are eggplants, tomatoes, onions, carrots and spices. You can find one of these recipes in the article "
Eggplant preparations for the winter
And of course, all the described dishes are summer residents actively stock up for the winter so that you don’t part with your favorite vegetable all year round. For the winter, pickled and fried eggplants, salted, pickled and stewed, stuffed with vegetables, in salads and caviar, go under the lid. Eggplants are also successfully frozen fresh, boiled, baked or fried.
In the next video, Elena Bazhenova will tell you how to preserve fried eggplants with tomatoes
In recent years, freezing eggplant for the winter has become increasingly common. You can do it quite simply - cut into cubes and pack in bags. But still, in freezing, semi-finished eggplants are much tastier. For this, in fact, you don’t need much: bake directly with the peel and stalk in the oven, on the grill or even on the fire on any metal plate, peel and let the bitter juice drain. Eggplants prepared in this way are perfectly preserved in the freezer and in winter, after defrosting, they retain their taste qualities remarkably. In the absence of an oven, you can boil unpeeled eggplants in a strong salty solution, peel and let the juice drain. It turns out no worse, and the flesh is even lighter.
Another recipe freezing eggplant for the winter Shares Love Hook in next video
Eggplant, delicious vegetables that appear on our tables in the middle of summer and reign on them until the end of autumn, strictly speaking, are not vegetables. Botanists classify eggplant as a berry. The birthplace of eggplant is India, and it was the Indians and residents of other countries of South Asia who first began to eat eggplants.
The first varieties of eggplants were very different in appearance from those dark purple large fruits that we are used to. These were small, almost white berries, resembling a chicken egg in their appearance. It is from the appearance of the ancestors of modern eggplants that the English name of the eggplant came about - eggplant (egg plant).
To date, there are countless types of eggplant, differing from each other in the shape, weight and color of the fruit, as well as in their taste.
Eggplants have a high nutritional value. They are high in fiber and contain a range of vitamins and minerals that are important for health. Eggplants are especially rich in folic acid and potassium - substances that can have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system. In Asian countries, eggplant is called a longevity vegetable.
In addition, eggplants contain a large amount of enzymes that help break down fats, which makes them indispensable for weight loss diets. But, of course, we would love eggplant, first of all, for their characteristic, unusual taste and unobtrusive aroma.
Today, eggplants are popular in cooking in most countries of the world. There are countless ways to prepare eggplant dishes. They are fried, boiled, stewed, salted and pickled snacks, caviar are prepared from them. Cooking eggplant dishes, like cooking dishes from other vegetables, to a large extent depends on the imagination and skills of the cook.
From these delicious fruits, you can prepare both a simple light salad and a complex dish rich in additional ingredients that will honor even the royal table.
Choosing eggplant, give preference to young fruits containing less solanine - a substance that gives eggplants a bitter aftertaste. Try to buy elastic fruits, with a smooth shiny skin and a green stalk.
Too dark, dry and wrinkled eggplant skin, dark spots and a brown, wrinkled stalk will tell you that the fruit has been plucked for a long time and no longer has all the virtues and taste of a fresh eggplant.
If the purchased eggplants still cause you some doubts, then after cutting, place the eggplant pieces in lightly salted water and hold in it for 20-30 minutes. In this simple way, you will get rid of most of the solanine and its accompanying bitterness.
RECIPES WITH EGGLANTS
1. Eggplant salad- one of the easiest ways to please yourself with the taste of these summer vegetables. Peel one medium-sized eggplant and cut into slices 1-2 centimeters thick. Fry eggplant slices in a pan in vegetable oil until golden brown. In the same oil, fry two onions, cut into rings.
Cool the fried vegetables and put them in a salad bowl. Add 3-4 sliced tomatoes, a tablespoon of finely chopped greens and salt to the fried vegetables. Stir gently. You do not need to oil such a salad, but you can add a little lemon juice or soy sauce. This simple recipe of Armenian cuisine is sure to please any lover of eggplant appetizers.
2. boiled eggplant- a characteristic dish of Georgian cuisine. Cut four medium eggplants in half, put in an enamel pan, add celery root and pour two cups of boiling water. Cook over low heat for half an hour.
Discard the cooked eggplants and gently squeeze by hand or under pressure. 100 g of peeled walnuts crush with three cloves of garlic, one tablespoon of cilantro and a small pod of red pepper. To crushed nuts with spices, add finely chopped green onions, parsley and basil. Pour 3-4 tablespoons of pomegranate juice into the seasoning and mix thoroughly. Put the squeezed boiled eggplants on a plate and generously spread seasoning of nuts and herbs on top.
3. simple recipe fried eggplant offers us Greek cuisine. Cut 700 grams of eggplant into thin circles, arrange in one layer on a dish or baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and leave for one hour. Rinse salted eggplants in cold water and dry with a towel or napkins.
Mix one glass of flour with half a teaspoon of ground black pepper and carefully roll each piece of eggplant in this flour. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and fry the eggplant in batches for 2-3 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with herbs and serve with a salad of fresh vegetables (bell peppers, tomatoes, red onions).
4. Eggplant stewed with vegetables, are prepared, probably, in any house. But the undoubted leaders in the preparation of such dishes were and remain Indians and Bengalis. Let's try to cook stewed vegetables with eggplant in Indian style. Peel and cut into small cubes one large eggplant, 5 medium potatoes and 350g pumpkin.
In a deep saucepan or cauldron, heat 3 tbsp. spoons of ghee or vegetable oil and throw your favorite oriental spices into it (mustard seeds, shambhala, anise, cumin, bay leaf, red hot pepper). Heat the spices in the oil for no more than one minute and immediately add the potatoes. Fry, stirring, for about 8 minutes, until golden brown.
Add eggplant and pumpkin and sauté all together for 5 more minutes. Add 450 g of fresh or frozen green peas to the fried vegetables, add 600 ml of water, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and the sauce thickens. 15 minutes before the end of the stew, add salt to taste. Serve ready-made vegetables to the table, garnished with fresh herbs and a slice of lemon.
5. Grilled eggplant retain the fullness of taste and aroma, as well as the greatest amount of useful substances contained in them.
Cut the eggplant lengthwise into slices no more than one and a half centimeters thick. Soak them in salted water and then pat dry. Using a whisk, beat 3 tbsp. spoons of olive oil, 2 tbsp. spoons of balsamic vinegar, two finely chopped cloves of garlic, 1-2 tbsp. tablespoons finely chopped greens, salt and black pepper. Coat the eggplant slices with the resulting mixture and grill on both sides for 15-20 minutes. Serve as a side dish with meat or poultry, as well as an independent dish, with a vegetable salad.
6.Eggplant with pork baked in a pot- This is a very satisfying, tasty and easy-to-cook dish. Without requiring excessive efforts, this dish will not leave anyone indifferent. Cut 500 g pork tenderloin into small cubes and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.
Peel three medium eggplants and cut into small cubes. Roll the eggplant in 1-2 tbsp. spoons of flour and fry until golden brown in vegetable oil. Stir the eggplant and meat and divide the mixture into serving bowls. Add sour cream to each pot so that it covers vegetables with meat. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and place the pots in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Serve right in the pot, sprinkled with chopped parsley on top.
7. Stuffed eggplant- This is a dish that almost every housewife prepares at the end of summer. Than just do not stuff eggplants. Any kind of meat, poultry, various vegetable and cereal fillings are suitable. Such eggplants are baked in the oven or stewed in a saucepan under the lid with the addition of a small amount of water. Let's try to cook stuffed eggplant with lamb.
Cut two large eggplants in half lengthwise. Carefully remove the pulp, finely chop and mix with 300 g of minced lamb. Add three finely chopped garlic cloves, 1 tbsp. l. chopped green cilantro, salt and red pepper. Mix everything thoroughly and fill the eggplant halves with minced meat. Lay tomato slices on top of eggplant with minced meat and sprinkle everything with grated cheese. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
8. Of course, when talking about how to cook eggplant, it is impossible to ignore eggplant caviar. This tender, fragrant, moderately spicy snack is familiar to everyone since childhood. Each housewife prepares eggplant caviar in her own way, often the recipe for such caviar is passed down in the family from generation to generation. The most delicious caviar is obtained from eggplant pre-baked in the oven.
Cut three kilograms of eggplant in half lengthwise, put on a baking sheet and, after brushing the slices with vegetable oil, bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Ready eggplant cool, peel and finely chop with a knife or pass through a meat grinder.
Finely chop 300 g of onion and bell pepper. Puree 300 g of tomatoes in a blender. In a saucepan or deep frying pan, heat 100 ml of vegetable oil and fry the onion in it for 2 minutes. Add pepper and continue frying for another 5-7 minutes.
Add tomato puree to the fried vegetables and simmer everything together, stirring often, for another 10 minutes. Add the roasted eggplant pulp and continue to simmer the vegetables for 10-15 minutes. Peel and pound two medium cloves of garlic with black pepper and salt. Add to the stewed vegetables and heat over the smallest fire for 7 minutes. Cool the finished caviar and serve with rye bread toasts.
9. Chinese cuisine will help you surprise your guests with an unusual taste sweet eggplant. First prepare the sauce. To do this, mix 4 tbsp. tablespoons soy sauce, 2 ½ tbsp. tablespoons brown sugar, 2 tbsp. tablespoons lemon juice and 3 tbsp. spoons of water. Add salt and black pepper and mix thoroughly. Finely chop 5 green onion stalks, 6 garlic cloves and 1 hot pepper. Cut the eggplant into thin, long strips. Heat vegetable oil in a deep frying pan and fry the eggplant until dark.
Drain the cooked eggplants in a colander and let the excess oil drain. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and put green onions, garlic and hot peppers in it, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of grated ginger and fry everything together over low heat for 1 - 2 minutes. Add eggplant and pour in the sauce prepared in advance. Simmer everything together for another 5 minutes.
10. Eggplant with walnuts. Ingredients: a faceted glass of peeled walnuts, two large eggplants, seven cloves of garlic, adjika or ground red pepper, vegetable oil.
Wash the eggplant. Cut them into circles or ovals. Sprinkle them with salt. Rinse with cold water after 10 minutes. Fry the eggplant on both sides in a skillet in vegetable oil. Lay them on the grid and let the excess vegetable oil drain. 
Prepare a glass of walnuts, peeling them from the shell, as well as seven cloves of garlic. Thoroughly crush the walnuts in a mortar along with garlic, adjika (red pepper) and 4 teaspoons of vegetable oil until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
Add the ingredients to the nuts gradually, checking the taste of the resulting mass after each addition. Put the pieces of fried eggplant on a plate, put about a teaspoon of the resulting mass of walnuts and spices on each circle. Smooth it over the surface of the eggplant circle.
Today we shared with you only a small fraction of the secrets of cooking eggplant dishes. We are sure that our advice, multiplied by your experience and imagination, will give excellent results and give you and your family an endless variety of delicious and fragrant dishes made from these wonderful fruits.
You can cook many very simple and “quick” dishes from eggplant. If you want something spicy, tasty, but simple, "blue ones" are better than all other vegetables. They are appropriate on the everyday and festive table, as an appetizer and a light side dish.
Cooking eggplant in a pan will take a minimum of time. Even with the oil in which the vegetable is fried, the dish will turn out to be dietary, since the calorie content of eggplant is low. You can serve fried "blue ones" with meat, fish, poultry and even boiled cereals. They go well with vegetables, herbs and cheese.
Eggplant in a pan - general principles of cooking
How to cook eggplant in a pan - tasty and fast? First of all, get rid of the bitterness characteristic of this vegetable. The skin of overripe fruits is bitter, so you need to either use young eggplants, or cut off the skin and additionally soak the eggplant pulp in salted water.
The fruits should be washed, cut off the skin, cut the peeled fruit into slices or cubes (depending on the recipe) and pour salted water (a teaspoon of salt into half a liter of water). After 20 minutes, drain the water, spread the slices on a paper towel and blot. Besides the fact that salt will draw bitterness out of the vegetable, it will make the eggplant more elastic. When frying, slices treated in this way will absorb much less oil.
There is another way to remove bitterness. Sliced eggplant should be salted with a few generous pinches of salt and set aside for 15-20 minutes. Then rinse with cold water, dry and use according to the recipe.
Eggplant in a pan with garlic
One of the most successful combinations is fried spicy eggplant with garlic. How to cook eggplant in a pan - tasty and fast? It will take a minimum of ingredients and only half an hour of free time.
Ingredients:
Four medium eggplants;
Four cloves of garlic;
Two eggs;
Pepper and seasonings to your taste;
Seasonal fresh herbs to decorate the dish (parsley, basil, dill);
Oil for the pan.
Cooking method:
Cut eggplant into circles and soak.
Dry by blotting with a paper towel.
Whisk eggs with salt, black pepper, paprika or other seasonings to your taste. Good and dried dill, parsley.
Dip vegetable slices in beaten eggs and place in skillet.
Fry for 4 minutes on each side.
Put the finished circles on a dry towel to absorb excess fat.
Grate garlic cloves or pass through a press.
Finely chop fresh herbs.
Arrange eggplant in a dish, grease each circle with a small amount of garlic gruel, sprinkle with herbs.
Eggplant in a pan with forest mushrooms
Cooking eggplant in a pan with onions and mushrooms is not difficult. After 30-40 minutes, you can serve fragrant “blue ones” with onion and mushroom frying.
Ingredients:
Three young eggplants;
Two hundred grams of forest mushrooms (can be replaced with fresh champignons or frozen mushrooms);
Three eggs;
Four cloves of garlic;
A bunch of dill (or a tablespoon of dried herbs);
Medium onion;
Pepper or a mixture of peppers, salt (to taste).
Cooking method:
Chop onion into small cubes.
Chop the garlic very finely with a knife.
Prepare the eggplants by cutting them into cubes and washing off the bitterness.
Whisk eggs with salt and pepper.
Put the eggplant cubes in the egg “marinade” and leave them for 40 minutes. Stir twice so that the vegetables are soaked in the egg mixture.
Peel mushrooms, wash quickly, cut into small pieces.
Heat the pan, put the eggplant slices and fry, stirring, for five minutes.
Throw mushrooms and onions into the pan, fry for another ten minutes, not forgetting to mix. Salt the roast to taste, add spices (optional).
Squeeze the garlic through a press.
Put garlic in a pan with ready-made eggplants, close the lid, turn off the heat.
After two minutes, eggplant cooked in a pan can be served at the table.
Decorate the dish in a plate with finely chopped greens (fresh or dried).
Layered eggplants in a pan with tomatoes
Juicy “blue ones” with wonderful sourness and a spicy garlic note are a real masterpiece of culinary art. However, cooking eggplant in a pan - tasty and fast - according to this recipe, you can easily. An interesting layout (in layers) makes the dish suitable for a festive table.
Ingredients:
Five small eggplants;
Three tomatoes
Four garlic cloves;
One hundred grams of mayonnaise;
Oil for a frying pan;
Greens for decoration (optional).
Cooking method:
Cut eggplant into slices, season with salt, dry.
Prepare garlic sauce: chop the garlic through a press or with a knife, mix it with mayonnaise.
Cut the tomatoes into circles.
Wash the greens, chop with a knife.
Fry eggplant in hot oil until golden brown.
Spread the circles on a wide flat dish in one layer.
Lubricate the first layer with sauce, spread the tomato slices on top.
Repeat the eggplant and tomato layer.
Chop greens and decorate the dish.
Eggplant in a frying pan with cheese
Another delicious holiday dish is fried “blue” rolls. How to cook eggplant in skoroda - tasty and fast? All you need is some mozzarella and fresh tomatoes.
Ingredients:
Three medium-sized eggplants;
Four tomatoes;
Two hundred grams of mozzarella (can be replaced with another kind of cheese);
Four cloves of garlic;
Three hundred grams of a mixture of mayonnaise and garlic (taken in equal proportions);
Pepper, salt;
Too little for frying.
Cooking method:
Cut eggplant into thin slices, get rid of bitterness.
Fry eggplant slices on a hot frying pan on both sides.
Cheese cut into small thin slices.
Mince the garlic.
Cut the tomatoes into small cubes.
Mix cheese and garlic with sour cream-mayonnaise sauce.
On the tip of the fried eggplant plate, put a spoonful of cheese-garlic mixture, a cube of tomato, roll everything into a roll.
Eggplant in a frying pan with Chinese sauce
An interesting recipe for eggplant fried in a skillet with Chinese spicy sauce was created for lovers of oriental cuisine. The dish can be eaten both cold and hot.
Ingredients:
Two large eggplants;
Four cloves of garlic;
Two tablespoons of starch;
A piece of fresh ginger (2-3 cm from the root);
Two teaspoons of sesame;
Two hundred milliliters of soy sauce;
Two teaspoons of rice vinegar;
One star anise;
a tablespoon of sugar;
Half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon;
Vegetable oil for frying;
Half teaspoon of sesame oil.
Cooking method:
Peel off the eggplant, cut into cubes, soak in salted water.
Roll dried eggplants in starch.
Heat the oil (3-4 tablespoons) and fry the sticks until golden brown.
Place the crispy eggplant slices on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
Prepare the sauce (original name "suan").
Remove the skin from the ginger root, grate on a fine grater.
Pour soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, spices and grated ginger into a saucepan.
Bring to a boil and boil twice (it will take about fifteen minutes).
Strain the finished sauce, pour in a little sesame oil, beat with a hand whisk and cool.
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan (they should turn golden).
Arrange the cubes of fried eggplant on plates, sprinkle with sesame seeds, pour over the sauce.
Eggplant in a pan with vegetables
It is not difficult to cook eggplant in a pan with traditional vegetables: cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes. The dish will be simple, light, low-calorie and very healthy. This is a great lunch option for a fasting day.
Ingredients:
Three medium eggplants;
Three hundred grams of cabbage (you can take cauliflower instead of white cabbage);
Three tomatoes;
Large bulb;
Three potatoes;
One medium carrot;
Vegetable oil.
Cooking method:
Eggplant cut into large cubes, salt and set aside.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes of the same size.
Cut the white cabbage into squares (disassemble the cauliflower into small pieces).
Heat up a frying pan and fry in oil in succession (separately): first cabbage, then potatoes, eggplants at the end. Vegetables should be sufficiently fried, but not completely cooked (fry for 7-10 minutes). Layer them in a deep frying pan.
Grate the carrots on a fine grater, chop the onion as finely as possible.
Prepare onion-carrot fry.
Throw finely chopped tomatoes into the finished frying, simmer for 15 minutes under a tight lid.
Pour the puffed main vegetables with tomato-carrot sauce and simmer until fully cooked over low heat for 50-60 minutes.
Divide the ragout into bowls and serve.
Eggplant in a Pan - Tricks and Useful Tips
Eggplant should only be fried in hot oil. If it is not heated enough, the slices will stick to the bottom.
For frying in a pan, young eggplants with delicate skin are preferred. Such vegetables are less bitter, it is not necessary to cut off the skin from them.
Overripe specimens are peeled in any case. To make it easier to remove, you can scald the "little blue" ones with boiling water.
If the body or tip of the eggplant is covered with dark ugly spots, you cannot use such a vegetable for food.
Fried eggplants absorb a large amount of fat, so they must be blotted with napkins. If you use old, rancid or simply low-quality oil, you can spoil the taste and smell of eggplant.
A lot is known about the beneficial properties of eggplant. They are rich in organic acids, fiber and pectins, which contribute to the resorption of congestion in the gallbladder. Eggplants are effectively used in clinical nutrition, their use is an excellent prevention of atherosclerosis. This vegetable normalizes bowel function and reduces the amount of cholesterol in the blood.
Eggplant contains a large amount of potassium, the salts of this microelement contribute to the removal of excess fluid from the body. Therefore, eggplant dishes are very useful for people suffering from kidney disease and hypertension. In addition, eggplants increase the level of hemoglobin in the blood, so they are very useful for children and pregnant women. This vegetable contains a minimum amount of calories, they can be consumed by people who are overweight or have diabetes.
Fried Eggplant - General Principles and Cooking Methods
Before you start frying eggplants, you need to get rid of the bitterness contained in them, for this you need to cut them into circles and place them in salt water for ten minutes. After that, the water will need to be drained, and the vegetables squeezed out. Before frying, eggplants can be rolled in a mixture of eggs and flour or eggs and breadcrumbs. If the eggplants are young and medium-sized, then they can be peeled before cooking and not peeled.
Fried eggplant - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Fried Eggplant with Tomatoes and Garlic
This is one of the easiest fried eggplant recipes. It is not only convenient, but also accessible even to novice cooks. These eggplants can be served during any feast, garnished with herbs and tomatoes.
Ingredients: 5 pieces of medium eggplant, 2 tomatoes, 100 grams of mayonnaise, 100 milliliters of vegetable oil, 4 cloves of garlic, a few sprigs of herbs.
Cooking method
Cut the eggplant into small thin pieces, pour water over them, first placing them in a small bowl and add salt.
While the eggplant is soaking, prepare the garlic sauce. Grind garlic cloves in a garlic press and mix with mayonnaise.
Cut the tomatoes into thin circles, and finely chop the greens.
Remove the eggplants from the water, blot with a paper towel and fry in hot oil for one to two minutes, on each side.
Take the eggplant out of the bowl. Pat dry with paper towel. Fry them in hot oil for about 1-2 minutes on each side.
Arrange the cooked eggplants on a large platter. Top generously grease them with sauce and put chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle everything with herbs and a delicious snack is ready! These eggplants can be eaten both hot and cold.
Recipe 2: Fried Eggplant with Cheese
This dish can be served as a side dish or as an appetizer on its own. Cooking such eggplants will not take much time, and their aroma will instantly win the heart of any guest.
Ingredients: 800 grams of eggplant, 50 grams of tomatoes, 100 milliliters of vegetable oil, 3 cloves of garlic, 650 grams of hard cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking method
Wash fresh eggplants of the same size, peel and cut lengthwise so that pieces 1-2 centimeters thick are obtained. Pour well-salted eggplants with cool water and leave in this form for about forty minutes, so that bitterness leaves them.
Remove eggplant from water, dry well and fry on both sides in vegetable oil. Put the fried eggplants on a baking sheet in one layer and add salt. On top of the eggplant, lay out the sliced tomatoes, which are sprinkled with garlic squeezed through the garlic. Next, sprinkle the eggplants generously with grated cheese, if desired, you can add greens: parsley or basil. Eggplant must be baked in the oven for thirty minutes at a temperature of 190 degrees.
Recipe 3: Eggplant fried in batter
Delicate and tasty eggplants will decorate any table and will be appropriate both during a family dinner and at a gala dinner.
Ingredients: 200 grams of eggplant, 40 grams of flour, 50 milliliters of milk, 1 egg, 40 milliliters of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt.
Cooking method
Washed and peeled eggplant cut into small slices. Mix egg, milk and flour until smooth. Eggplant slices must be well salted and dipped in batter, after which they are immediately fried on both sides in hot oil. This dish goes well with mashed potatoes and is served hot.
This is a fairly simple dish in the cooking process, very reminiscent of fried mushrooms in its taste.
Ingredients: 3 medium young eggplants, 3 onions, 2 eggs, 4 garlic cloves, vegetable oil, herbs, salt, pepper to taste.
Cooking method
Wash the eggplant, peel, cut into small cubes, 2 centimeters wide and the same length. In a bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, add salt and pepper to them to taste. Put the eggplant into the resulting mixture, mix well so that the vegetables are completely covered with eggs. Leave the eggplant to soak for about twenty minutes.
At this time, cut the onion into small cubes and fry it in sunflower oil until golden brown. When the onion is fried, put the eggplant soaked in the egg mixture into the pan, while the juice should not be used, it must be drained. Fry eggplant with onions well, stirring constantly. At the end, add the garlic squeezed out of the garlic and sprinkle the eggplants with finely chopped herbs. Once again, mix everything well, cover with a lid and let stand for a few more minutes.
When buying eggplant, you need to pay attention to their appearance. The most delicious are young fruits that do not have many seeds and are covered with a thin skin. The peel of this vegetable should be dark blue with a shiny tint. Fried eggplant absorbs a lot of oil during cooking, so they are not recommended for those who are overweight.
Before frying, eggplants are cut both into rings and transverse oblong slices, then long eggplant plates are obtained in finished form. Such long slices should not be rolled in flour beforehand, it is better to immediately fry them in oil until golden brown.
