A New Use for Eggplant

Eggplant. That oval shaped, pretty purple vegetable that is usually situated on the cooled store shelf between the lettuce and the ginger-root has dumbfounded me for years. I don’t remember ever even seeing an eggplant until I was in college, and I don’t recall eating any then. Yet, for over a decade now, I have been buying eggplants and attempting to figure out to prepare them in a manner that is both tasty and relatively healthy.

One common way to cook eggplant is to fry slices of the veggie after it’s been peeled. Even though I don’t enjoy fried food, I did try this method once. Needless to say, I didn’t like the results.

Perhaps the most common manner by which to prepare eggplant is in Eggplant Parmesan, but the eggplant always turned out either tough or wimpy.

I’ve tried roasting it, but the slices would either burn to a crisp or taste like nothing but salt. In other words, neither method proved successful.

Yet, I purchased another one, determined to try again.

I tried peeling it and then blending part of it up into Guacamole, which wasn’t too bad. With some additional salt, it would have made a good dip for “raw crackers” (made of various vegetables) or zucchini chips (both of which are made in the dehydrator). Come to think of it, I don’t even know if one is supposed to eat eggplant raw, but I did.

Then, I put about ¼ of the raw, peeled eggplant in a blender with ½ of a cucumber, about a cup of raspberries, some water, flax seed, pasteurized egg whites, and sugar substitute. Delicious. Maybe this is what I’ve been waiting for all of these years.