Eggplant aka Aburgines

Oh I lurrrrve aubergines - but have moved on beyond eggplant parmesan!  I occasionally salt, drain & wipe 'em - but more often than not, I don't, and they don't taste bitter.  You might want to, however, for eggplant parmesan since you'll be frying them.

I love how aubergines soak up oil - usually a good olive oil - nom nom nom.  And how when they're really cooked up & have sponged up the oil, their texture is just so silken & delicious.

I like them in a pan of mixed roasted vegetables (which I did on Monday night), in curries, in baba ghanoush, etc.

I think they are one of my all-time favourite vegetables!  And I wasn't really a vegetable person, until I moved to England, btw. 

I NEVER really ate vegetables so this is all new to me. My vegetables consisted of Broccoli crown ONLY, green beans, lettuce and corn.

Now I have tried cauliflower, parsnips and eggplant! NEXT asparagus
I am branching out while DH is off shore so if it is sucks I wont cook when he is home ;-)

I eat so many more vegetables here than I ever did in the US, including (what I eat now as opposed to before) parsnips, asparagus, more aubergines, brussel sprouts, greens, turnips, swede & I am sure some other ones I can't think of just now...plus even more of the veg I ate before.

DH is really keen on his veggies, so he's got me into them too! 

Good girl on branching out into both eating *and* cooking veggies!  Your body will love you for it--all those vitamins and antioxidants fiber and yumminess too!

I like them in a pan of mixed roasted vegetables (which I did on Monday night), in curries, in baba ghanoush, etc.

OMG, baba ghanoush! Yum. How am I going to sleep now?  Too hungry.......

OMG, baba ghanoush! Yum. How am I going to sleep now?  Too hungry.......

Oh YUM. I love the baba ghanoush. Plus it's really fun to say. 

I have always, always hated carrots. And I like most vegetables. But, I wanted to like carrots because they are good for you, so if someone presented them to me in a way I hadn't tried before, then I would have a small taste and see if I liked it. So one day on a Sunday dinner, I cooked some baby Chantenay carrots for DH and DSS because they really like carrots -- I steamed them until soft and then sauteed then in butter with fresh thyme. They looked so good that I thought I should try one, and I really liked it! Of course, I tried a regular carrot a week later, a lovely roasted one, and still hated it, so I guess I only like the one type of carrot.  Still, you will never know if you put yourself off trying something altogether after a few bad experiences.

You should definitely leech your aubergines (do the salt thing) if anyone who is eating them is a super-taster.  You will know if they (probably) are if they often complain about the bitterness of food.  I love aubergines, but my husband can't eat them if I don't leech them.

Oh YUM. I love the baba ghanoush. Plus it's really fun to say. 

I have always, always hated carrots. And I like most vegetables. But, I wanted to like carrots because they are good for you, so if someone presented them to me in a way I hadn't tried before, then I would have a small taste and see if I liked it. So one day on a Sunday dinner, I cooked some baby Chantenay carrots for DH and DSS because they really like carrots -- I steamed them until soft and then sauteed then in butter with fresh thyme. They looked so good that I thought I should try one, and I really liked it! Of course, I tried a regular carrot a week later, a lovely roasted one, and still hated it, so I guess I only like the one type of carrot.  Still, you will never know if you put yourself off trying something altogether after a few bad experiences.

I think it's a texture thing.

I am very picky about my eggplant / aubergines - though I suspect it has something to do with the perils childhood when my mother being a bad cook and a vegetarian in the '70s.

Not a good combination, let me tell you! 

I think it's a texture thing.

I am very picky about my eggplant / aubergines - though I suspect it has something to do with the perils childhood when my mother being a bad cook and a vegetarian in the '70s.

Not a good combination, let me tell you! 

LOL!  I can imagine the horrors!

I also really like mousaka. That's a nice eggplant / aubergine dish. (Do they call it eggplant in Canada, too, or aubergine?)

I have this real fondness for eggplant based on one special memory of the first time I ever tried it. When I was vegetarian for a while as a teenager, my Dad was barbecuing and grilling some steaks and things, and I always loved his barbecue, but didn't want to eat meat, of course. So, he took a large eggplant and cut it lengthwise into thick steaks, then grilled it, brushed the top with butter and sprinkled a bit of parmesan cheese on it. To my memory, it was the best tasting thing ever.  But my Dad was an excellent cook, so everything his fingers touched turned to gold, in my eyes. 

  I am very picky about my eggplant / aubergines - though I suspect it has something to do with the perils childhood when my mother being a bad cook and a vegetarian in the '70s.  Not a good combination, let me tell you!   

Lol!  I remember you on a mini-rant once about 'why do people think vegetarians always will be wanting aubergines?' or some such.  Meanwhile, I remember thinking to myself - but aubergines are so lovely, if I were a vegetarian, I would want them all the time!  And then I made you that veggie lasagna, heavy on the aubergine content - can't remember if it was before or after you had talked about aubergines though. 

Now I understand...sort of like the raisins in the rice or pilaf... 

My SIL is a vegetarian but she is allergic to aubergines, and I am always so dismayed to have to think up veggie recipes without aubergine for her.

Jewlz, oh moussaka - so yummy! 

Lol!  I remember you on a mini-rant once about 'why do people think vegetarians always will be wanting aubergines?' or some such.  Meanwhile, I remember thinking to myself - but aubergines are so lovely, if I were a vegetarian, I would want them all the time!  And then I made you that veggie lasagna, heavy on the aubergine content - can't remember if it was before or after you had talked about aubergines though. 

And zucchini / courgette! Overdose with those two veg eating out in the early years in the UK was also a factor in making them harder to like for me! 
And I do like them - it's all about how you cook them and I  your cooking!
 

Now I understand...sort of like the raisins in the rice or pilaf... 

I have stories of dead mice relating to this type of dish. I guess my mum tried. Or maybe she was trying to kill us! 

I'm not a true vegetarian, but I often wind up choosing the veg option at weddings, etc., because I don't eat red meat. And I have to say, my heart sinks when I'm served eggplant. 

My SIL is a vegetarian but she is allergic to aubergines, and I am always so dismayed to have to think up veggie recipes without aubergine for her.

Maybe she only tells you she's allergic because it's easier than telling you she just doesn't like them. 

Maybe she only tells you she's allergic because it's easier than telling you she just doesn't like them. 

Good girl on branching out into both eating *and* cooking veggies!  Your body will love you for it--all those vitamins and antioxidants fiber and yumminess too!

This! Well done!

I'm not a big eggplant/aubergine fan at all. I think that they're slimey and gross most of the time. However, that said, I make a gorgeous eggplant curry and greek stuffed eggplant