Cracking into Eggplant.

So, a very sweet friend of mine works in a place that received a large donation of fresh organic produce from a local farmer. After everyone had taken their respective oodles of vegetables, there was still quite a lot left over. Since it looked like it was going to go to waste, she very naturally thought of Your Humble Narrator (a filthy, free-veggie-loving hippy!) and gave me a call to see if I'd like any of the veggies- of course, I do. Pfft. True to her awesome self, she shows up at my work not an hour later with a huge black bag of peppers, parsip (one sad lonely parsnip- come home with me!) carrots, onions, celery...and eggplants. And not just any eggplants- long, tentacular, spectacular Chinese eggplants.

Enough eggplants that I hand to bundle them into a Gordian knot and double handedly stuff them into a crisper drawer in the fridge on Friday, where they filled the ENTIRE drawer with delicious purple promise.

So, tonight I pulled a few of those bad boys out and decided to whip up some home made vaguely Chinese-ish food.

I honestly like nothing better than getting a food idea and finding that I have everything I need for it just waiting in the fridge for me. It's so satisfying.

Now, one of my terrible comfort foods is take-out Chinese food crispy ginger eggplant. I mean, forget that eggplant is naturally super low calorie- once it's that saturated in sesame oil, it's like a french fry. It's super bad for you, but tastes Oh so good. I thought I'd try to reproduce that in spirit, without the 1/2  a cup of oil that often goes into such dishes (yes, 1/2 a cup. Seriously. The mind boggles).

Here's what I did.

Chop 2 long eggplants into 1/2 inch slices and steam with 1/2 cup water and 1T rice vinegar for 20 minutes until quite soft. This made about 3.5 cups of eggplant rings. I dont' imagine a bit more or less will matter.

While the eggplant is steaming:

dice: 2 red peppers and 2 scallions and set aside. I had some leftover green peas from Thanksgiving, so I just threw those guys in there too because I'm a rebel. It was about 1/4 cup or less.

mince:
1 scotch bonnet pepper, (WARNING: I LOVE SPICY FOOD)
3+ cloves of garlic (we all know how much I love garlic!)
a goodly chunk of ginger to taste (I had the last bit of a root, which worked out to about 1.5T. I would have normally doubled that).
1 scallion

add the minced items to a measuring cup with:
2/3 cup of water or veggie broth,
4 T Braggs (or soy sauce if you swing that way)
1 T brown sugar
1 T agave syrup
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 T crushed cashews.

this makes the sauce, you'll be using this first. It's nice to let it stand while the eggplant is steaming, to allow the flavours to mingle.

when the eggplant is ready to go, drain it.

Pour the sauce mixture into a deep sided frying pan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let boil for about 2 minutes, then turn it down a bit. (higher than medium, lower than boil).

Add the eggplant, peppers and scallions you've diced earlier. Stir very well to coat everything in the sauce. Don't worry that it's a little thin: I've got you covered. Wait for it. (hint: will involve cornstarch or arrowroot powder).

stirring fairly regularly, cook the eggplant the rest of the way, and the peppers lightly with the sauce. Keep it stirring, you don't want anything to stick and you want the flavours to really blend and have a good time in there.

When you're about ready to eat (you'll want to cook this for about 5 minutes, tops, or until the eggplant is creamy and dark and a little fally-aparty, and the peppers and peas are steamed but not floppy.) turn the heat back up so the sauce is at a light boil again. While the sauce is heating up, stir 2 tsp of cornstarch into a small bowl with 1 T of water or veggie broth, make a hole in the centre of the pan so you can see the sauce in the bottom, and pour the cornstarch into the sauce. Immediately mix very well, constantly turning the veggies and the sauce around on the high heat until the sauce thickens. Heat for another few minutes to cook the cornstarch and to allow the sauce's sweetness to bond with the veggies and then serve!

I garnished with shredded organic coconut, because it was there.

AND THE BEST PART? (sorry for shouting, I get excited). There's no oil. Nada. Zero. Zilch. OK, so the eggplant isn't "crispy" which is a result of being oil fried...but it's garlicky, and gingery, and eggplanty and spicy and creamy still.

This pan made two large servings with only 195 calories and 4 grams of fat, 9 grams of protein, 8 grams of iron and 7 grams of fibre per serving because food is awesome.

I suggest serving this over organic brown rice or quinoa for a super-hearty lasts-all-day lunch or dinner if you're super hungry.

I think I'm going to make baba ganouj with the remaining eggplants.

so many good things in one bowl.