Eggplant...

Growing up and as an adult one of my favorite dishes has been eggplant parmesan!  I would judge an Italian restaurant based on how well they prepared this dish!  As a kid, when I went through my vegetarian stage and drove my mom crazy, she made a great baked eggplant parmesan for me!  My husband Bob mastered a great recipe and it was a labor of love.  Now that my mouth is watering I have to say with the new healthy me, I have to forgo the eggplant parmesan for now.  Not only is purple one of my favorite colors, I still love eggplant and add it to many vegetable dishes.  One of my new favorites was the recipe last week (blog 9/10/10), a great substitute for my eggplant cravings!

Nutritional Benefits and Facts

Eggplants are wonderful sources of potassium, manganese, copper, dietary fiber, folate, magnesium, niacin, Vitamin B1, B6, C and K (in very small quantities). Vitamins are not available in high amounts in eggplants and one cup of cooked eggplant contains 2-5% of recommended levels of vitamin B1, B6 and C. As far as dietary fiber content is concerned, eggplants provide adequate amounts, one cup eggplant is equal to 10% daily recommended dietary fiber. These dietary fibers help lower blood sugar and blood cholesterol levels in the blood. 

Eggplant nutrition info also involves the fact that calories in eggplant are very low. One cup of eggplant coincides to 20 calories, thereby making them ideal components of low fat diets. Moreover, since the fat content is less, they are excellent food for weight loss diets. This is because eggplants are nutrient dense food and help people feel full, thereby preventing over-eating. Obese people love eggplant dishes as it does not add calories to their diet. Among the various eggplant nutrition data, another important factor to note is the low sodium levels present in eggplants. Low sodium diet is beneficial to hypertensive patients.

To draw out excess moisture, tenderize and remove bitter flavor, slice the raw eggplant and sprinkle with salt. Let it sit and "sweat" for fifteen minutes to one hour, and then rinse off the salt before cooking. It is not necessary to peel eggplant, but the skin of larger eggplants may become tough.