Recipe: Olive Oil Roasted Eggplant
I’ll admit – it took me a while to get used to eggplant. Even for the first couple of years, I could only have it if it was smothered in sauce and cheese in a beautiful eggplant parmesan cacophony. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case, and I can get my eggplant on anywhere, any day. And it’s pretty hard to top roasted eggplant recipe. The tender inside coupled with a crisp, crunchy skin…it’s perfect. Eggplants are awesome for nutrition, too, because they’re basically a jack-of-all-trades fruit (yes, it’s actually a fruit, not a vegetable). You’re getting solid fiber, folate, potassium, and magnesium, plus vitamins C, K, and B6. That’s a pretty terrific haul from one item.
Be Wary of That Bitter Taste, Though
However, eggplants are pretty dreadful to eat on their own. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to learn to love them…for this recipe, you’re going to need to take a few steps to prepare your eggplant before tossing them into the oven. After slicing, you’ll have to salt the eggplants for about 30 minutes. Otherwise, they will be SO BITTER and they won’t roast nearly as well.
Once they’ve salted, though, you’re pretty much in the clear. There’s just a little seasoning to be done if you want to add a bit to the taste. I suggest pepper, basil leaves, or garlic, but if you have some sort of fancy Cajun rub you want to throw on or use lemon zest instead, go wild! Who am I to stop you? The most important thing is you get your eat on with this eggplant recipe and you love it. Let me know how yours turns out!
Ingredients (one eggplant serves 2-3 people)
1 large eggplant
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt for salting before cooking
Pepper, basil leaves, and/or garlic to taste
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. A glass pan is ideal, but you can also line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
2. Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise, then cut each half into quarters, and cut each of THOSE quarters in half. From one eggplant, you should get 16 slices, though don’t worry if your math is a little off. You can also choose to cut lengthwise or not, depending on if you want strips versus more chunky bits of eggplant.
3. Place the eggplant in a colander and apply a few shakes of salt. You want to make sure each piece is salted. This will help remove the bitterness from the eggplant and give it a great texture. After 30 minutes of letting the eggplant salt, wash each piece and drain.
4. Once the eggplant pieces are washed, brush each piece with olive oil and place skin-side-down on your pan. Season with pepper, basil leaves, and/or garlic, whatever your preference.
5. Cook for 25-30 minutes. When the flesh is soft and browning, you’re done. Get your munch on and enjoy the health benefits of this eggplant recipe!
