Basil Eggplant

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This is a deceptively simple yet delicious and aromatic dish - with eggplant!  I decided to chose eggplant because I wanted to expand my knowledge of cooking/preparing a wide variety of vegetables since I used to limit myself to the common veggies (i.e. onion, bell peppers, tomato, etc.) when I used to eat meat.   

For those that are curious about eggplant benefits, I found that it's rich in dietary fiber (hence its filling powers) a very good source of essential minerals (magnesium, copper, manganese, phosphorus, folic acid and nicacin.), Vitamin B complex (B1, B6 and B12) and potassium.  Overall, these benefits will aid in reducing risk of cancer, weight loss, and provide a better skin tone. 

Okay, so here are the ingredients:

• >2 tbsp olive oil ( I always use extra virgin )
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 eggplant, chopped 
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• >2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped (I'd recommend asian/thai basil but regular basil that you find in a grocery store still tastes good)
• salt to taste (optional, unless your soy sauce doesn't provide enough sodium)

Direction:

1. To make the cooking process quick, I highly recommend taking care of all your chopping first, especially since you want to half-way cook the eggplant so you maintain most of it's nutritional value. 
2. Warm up the pan and oil then add garlic until it's fragrant ~1-2 min.
3. Next, add the eggplant and sprinkle it with paprika and pepper flakes (obviously if you love spice, add more!) and add soy sauce.  
4. Cook for about 5 minutes, constantly stirring to maintain consistent coating of spices and flavors.
5. Once eggplant looks fairly cooked, remove pan from heat and add the basil!
6. Within one minute, it should be good enough to serve and enjoy!

I added a tossed salad to give even more freshness to the meal! Be prepared to have a good amount of leftovers (depending on the size of your eggplant), I don't expect it to stay good anymore than a couple of days.

Sources:
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/basileggplant.htm
http://www.mybodybuildingcoupons.com/health-benefits-of-eggplant/
http://www.3fatchicks.com/3-health-benefits-of-eggplant/