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:
- 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.
- Warm up the pan and oil then add garlic until it's fragrant ~1-2 min.
- Next, add the eggplant and sprinkle it with paprika and pepper flakes (obviously if you love spice, add more!) and add soy sauce.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, constantly stirring to maintain consistent coating of spices and flavors.
- Once eggplant looks fairly cooked, remove pan from heat and add the basil!
- 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/
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