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Saturday, January 30. 2016

Is Eggplant ok for a low-carb weight loss diet?

Yes, it is fine. Although it looks and can taste carby, it is not. It's a close relative of the tomato but more fibrous. Thus, like tomato and no many vegetables, basically carb-free and nutrition-free, but tasty and fun to eat.


It's a pretty good substitute for carbs, in fact. I like it grilled, sauteed in olive oil, or steamed or sauteed with tomato and summer squash. I can do without eggplant parmesan.


How do our readers like to cook eggplant?

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Psychology, and Dr. Bliss at 15:33 | Comments (12) | Trackbacks (0)

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Some years back we had an amazing eggplant crop and collected dozens of eggplant recipes. One of my favorites is a soup with roasted red bell peppers, finished with a garlicky mayo. Hard to beat parmigiana, though. Moussaka, of course.
#1 Texan99 on 2016-01-30 16:51 (Reply)
Baba Ghanoush
#2 missred on 2016-01-30 17:45 (Reply)
Fat slices sprinkled with olive oil and grilled on charcoal
#3 Bird Dog on 2016-01-30 17:57 (Reply)
I don't get the fascination with eggplant. Raw it is bitter to bland. Cooked it is tasteless. I once had eggplant lasagna and couldn't get past the first bite. To this day I regret chewing and swalloing the bite I took. Why would anyone replace pasta with eggplant. Serious question not a rant. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.
#4 GoneWithTheWind on 2016-01-30 18:33 (Reply)
I agree. For some reason my kids like it parmigana so i grow 2 plants every year. Those tiny black beetles will engulf and devour the entire plant unless coated in Seven.
#4.1 fjord on 2016-01-30 18:43 (Reply)
I agree. It's either a nasty fibrous mass or a goey tasteless mass.
#4.2 J.T. Wenting on 2016-01-31 11:08 (Reply)
Personally I love eggplant Parmigiana, and eggplant rollitini, but don't eat them any more because so fattening.

Eggplant is also good in Thai green curry (as spicy as possible). I cheat and buy Thai green curry paste. Put on a pot of basmati rice in the rice cooker to fill up the rest of the family who are NOT on low carb. While the rice steams, Saute onions, garlic, and slivered breast of chicken in a fry pan, add green curry paste, and sliced rounds of eggplant, chopped peppers, green beans, and any other veggies you might like (celery? water chestnut?). Add a can of coconut milk, chopped fresh ginger, and fresh cilantro if you like it, bring to boil, turn down to simmer for 5 minutes or so, then put lid on skillet and let sit for a few minutes with heat off. The eggplant is crucial....

You can also use big slices of lightly oiled eggplant to make low carb grilled cheese sandwiches (on the grill or in the oven). It helps if you nuke the oil with some garlic first to give more flavour to the eggplant and sprinkle fresh oregano on it. Or fresh pesto is good to perk up boring mozzarella if you don't have cheddar. Messy--these are for fork and knife.

What about absolute basic ratatouille. Some variant of cubed eggplant, tomato, onions, peppers, summer squash, garlic w olive oil, basil, all sautéed til they make a kind of delicious thick sauce. This is really good for livening up boring chicken breasts. Or you could just have it in a bowl with grated cheese for a meal.
#5 retriever on 2016-01-30 19:44 (Reply)
Try this for zuchinni, summer squash, eggplant. In an oiled pyrex rectangular baking dish lay 3/8" thick slices (the long way) of the vegetable. Microwave for about 5-7 minutes, or until they are about 2/3 cooked. Butter them like toast (top side only), srpinkle on a little garlic powder, basil, and Tony's Extra Spice Cajun seasoning, or black pepper. Into the broiler on top rack position until they are brown, slightly crispy, and fully cooked, about 6-8 minutes. Yum! For eggplant, one can also add a smear of tomato sauce and some shredded cheese for a variation on aubergine Parmesan. I've had people who normally hate squash and eggplant swoon.
#6 Aggie on 2016-01-30 20:56 (Reply)
My grandmother in New Orleans used to make a Creole eggplant casserole with butter, sauteed eggplant, shrimp, italian breadcrumbs, onions, oregano, thyme and other ingredients I can't recall right now. We usually serve it as a side for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Also, the most wonderful Chinese dish I ever tasted was a casserole made with chicken and tender small eggplants in some kind of dark sauce. Didn't look appealing, but tasted incroyable. The eggplants were tender and oh so sweet.
#7 ahem on 2016-01-30 23:42 (Reply)
Half. Fry. Gut. Chop. Mix with onion, tomato and garlic. Fill empty skins. Bake. Lemon juice. Enjoy. So damn good.
#8 Walt on 2016-01-31 04:51 (Reply)
Peel the eggplant, slice into rounds about 1/4", dip in mixed whole egg, then into fine cracker crumbs, fry in olive oil deep enough to coat the entire bottom. Not the healthiest recipe but one I think almost everyone will like.
#9 Dave S on 2016-01-31 09:45 (Reply)
Grilled eggplant parm or an number of Israeli dips made from roasted eggplant.
#10 Eric Peterson on 2016-01-31 15:51 (Reply)

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