They say “eat your greens,” but this week Martha Rose Shulman’s Recipes for Health provide ways to eat purple, cooking up eggplant in five new ways.
Even though it’s officially autumn, the summer crop of eggplant is still in full swing at farmers’ markets across the country. I’ve been buying them in all shapes and sizes — small, delicate Italian eggplants and paler Asian eggplants that I buy both at farmers’ markets and at my local Iranian market, as well as the familiar globe eggplants that are widely available in both farmers’ markets and supermarkets.
The darker the eggplant’s skin, the more it has to offer in terms of antioxidant-rich anthocyanins. The anthocyanin phytonutrient in eggplant skin is called nasunin, and scientists have been able to isolate it and identify its antioxidant activity, particularly in protecting lipids in brain cell membranes.
Eggplant is a “meaty” vegetable. When I’m planning a dinner party for a mixed group of vegetarians and carnivores I’ll often serve a dish like the eggplant and tomato tart or the eggplant lasagna in this week’s Recipes for Health as my main course. These dishes please everybody and nobody goes home hungry.
I begin most of my eggplant recipes by roasting the eggplant. It will soften up in a 450-degree oven in about 20 minutes and requires very little oil — a good thing as eggplant is like a sponge and will drink up every tablespoon of oil you give it.
Here are five new recipes with eggplant.
Eggplant and Tomato Pie: This robust summer pie, topped with a layer of tomato slices flecked with thyme, is a nice party piece.
Balkan Eggplant and Chile Purée: This is an eggplant-centric version of ajvar, the Balkan red pepper and eggplant relish.
Lasagna with Tomato Sauce and Roasted Eggplant: This is a great do-ahead dish
Grilled Eggplant and Tomatoes With Chermoula: Chermoula, the pungent Moroccan herb sauce that is traditionally used as a marinade for fish, is also great with grilled vegetables, like the last of the summer’s eggplant and tomatoes.
Imam Bayildi: There are many recipes for the iconic Turkish eggplant dish, but this one is a much lighter dish than the classic.