How to Make Eggplant Taste Good
The eggplant is one of those vegetables that is rather tasteless when consumed in its raw, uncooked form. However, there are ways to prepare it so that its natural flavors come through and blend wonderfully with a variety of other ingredients.
There are various breeds of eggplant, such as the large butternut squash-shaped "globe" eggplant found in most supermarkets in the United States, its smaller cousin the Italian eggplant or the long and thin Chinese eggplant. Their tastes are similar, but you may opt for a larger or smaller eggplant to suit the type of eggplant dish you choose to prepare.
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Things You'll Need
- A large eggplant or several small ones
- A large chopping knife
- A salt shaker
- Spices of your choice
- Several eggs
- Bread crumbs
- A frying pan
- Cooking oil or margarine
- A food processor
- Grated cheese of your choice
- Tomato sauce
- Tin foil
- An oven
- A microwave steamer
- Chopped parsley
- Lemon juice
- A garlic clove or powdered garlic
- Tahini (sesame seed paste)
Instructions
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Make Fried Eggplant
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1
Slice a large eggplant or several small eggplants into slices about half an inch wide. Spread the slices on a chopping board or several plates. Sprinkle some salt on them to remove some of the moisture. Let them sit for 20 minutes.
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2
Use a fork to dip your eggplant slices in raw eggs and then coat them with breadcrumbs.
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3
Fry your bread crumb-coated eggplant slices in a pan coated with a teaspoon or two of cooking oil or margarine. Serve them hot!
Make an eggplant casserole
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4
Align your fried eggplant slices evenly on the bottom of a casserole dish.
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5
Cover the layer of fried eggplant slices with tomato sauce and grated cheese. Add as much as you'd like.
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6
Add another layer of fried eggplant slices and cover that layer with tomato sauce and grated cheese. Continue to do this until your casserole dish is full or you have run out of eggplant slices. Make sure your top layer is even and flat.
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7
Cover your dish with tin foil and bake it in the oven for about an hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
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8
Remove your casserole from the oven and enjoy.
Make Baba Ghanoush
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9
Cut a large eggplant or several small eggplants into large cubes. Sprinkle some salt on them to remove some of the moisture. Let them sit for 20 minutes.
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10
Steam your eggplant cubes until they are soft enough to cut without resistance. Typically, steaming a large eggplant will take about 20 to 30 minutes using a microwave steamer.
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11
Place your steamed eggplant cubes in a food processor.
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12
Add to the food processor two tablespoons of tahini, two tablespoons of parsley, a squirt or two of lemon juice, a clove or two of raw garlic or a teaspoon of powdered garlic, a pinch of salt and other spices of your choice.
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13
Blend the ingredients for several seconds to retain some chunks or for longer if you prefer a smoother texture.
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1
Tips & Warnings
When salting eggplant pieces to get rid of excess moisture, which can make an eggplant dish taste bland and watery, watch for tell-tale droplets of fluid on their surface.
