Eggplant: 5 ways to cook it in light meals!

Eggplant: A delightful ingredient for light recipes

Lindsay POUI-DI

29 Aug 2014

mis à jour le 4 May 2019 à 07:57

Rich in soft fibres and not highly calorific (if we know how to cook it). Discover the eggplant through various light and delicious recipes.

1/5
Asian origin
Originating probably from Asia, the eggplant arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean. As with the tomato or the potato, it belongs to the Solanaceaes family, which includes numerous venomous plants. It contains solanine, a poison which is destroyed during the cooking process. Be careful, do not use eggplant without cooking it!
2/5
Smoked
The eggplant is best cooked in the oven, on a grill or in live charcoals, and its skin gives it a delicious smoked taste. It tastes strong with ginger or in Indian-style curry, and combines well with Mediterranean vegetables - peppers, tomatoes, zucchinis, or chili - whereas its shape makes it the perfect stuffed vegetable.
3/5
With the skin
The dark skin contains numerous anti-oxidizing pigments. It is better to keep it, at least partially. Rich in fibres, the eggplant facilitates digestion. It also has diuretic and choleretic properties (stimulating the biliary functions).
4/5
Light
With approximately 20 calories per 100g, the eggplant has a feather weight but its spongy flesh drinks the oil very easily before the cooking is finished. It is better to dry it, by slicing a big piece of it, and putting it in a warm frying pan before adding the oil. You can also pre-cook it in steam or in a microwave. Avoid cooking in water, which increases the bitterness.
5/5
Almost ripe...
The eggplant must be shiny, the peduncle green and thorny, the flesh firm under the finger. It reaches its gustative apogee just before maturity and can be preserved for some days in the refrigerator. White, dark purple, marbled, round... there are numerous varieties. These days, we don't cover it in salt before cooking. It needs to be cooked without its seeds to make it digestible.

THE RECIPE:

(For two)

Draw slight crosspieces in the flesh of two eggplants split into lengths. Coat them with a light drizzle of olive oil and place them in a warm oven for approximately 35 min at 200°C until they soften completely. For caviar: remove the flesh with a spoon, chop it with a knife, add the olive oil bit by bit. You can also add some crushed garlic or the fine chopped onion, salt and pepper. Serve tepid or cold.

Greek style: Chop a bouquet of parsley and a half-onion, slice some feta cheese into small cubes, mix it all with a drizzle of olive oil and pepper, then cover the warm half-eggplant with cold minced vegetables.

Martine Azoulai

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