On Appreciating Eggplant

About author / Sarah Christine Bolton

Coffee addict; professional food writer; food fusion. Her slow cooker recipes go above and beyond your normal crockpot fare.

If you regularly read this column, then you know that I often talk about how my mom was somewhat of a food adventurer. She was always finding new (sometimes code for 'strange') foods and attempting to introduce them into our diet.

Some of them worked out very well. Like greens. She would sauté them with garlic and olive oil, and they were quite delicious, as well as good for you. When she discovered the freshly grilled tri-tip at Albertson’s Grocery, she would bring it home for dinner. Tri-tip, for those of you who might not live in a beef community, is an excellent cut of meat, very tender and flavorful. And then sometimes she would make Egg Foo ????, from a recipe that her dad used to use when she was growing up.

But then, every once and while, her culinary exploits wouldn’t go over so well. One time, she cooked beets (which I actually love now), and when she forced me to eat them, I ended up not retaining them very well (if you know what I mean). She made deer heart once, after my dad went hunting. While I know there are all sorts of health benefits to heart, like lots of iron and protein, I was and still am very uncomfortable eating it. Come on. Heart? And then, possibly one of the worst new foods she attempted to introduce was eggplant.

Eggplant is one of those deceiving foods that nature offers up. On the outside, the deep purple color and glossy skin make it seem like a glorious vegetable. However, unless it’s cooked well, eggplant comes out tasteless and gray. Not exactly appetizing.

Unfortunately, the first time my mom made eggplant, it came out tasteless and gray. We had to eat it, because of the family’s clean-your-plate rule, but it definitely turned me off from eggplant for many years.

It wasn’t until my boyfriend’s Italian roommate made fried eggplant that I was able to even attempt trying it again. I watched her chop up the eggplant, dip it in egg and herbed flour, and fry it golden in oil. She poured out tiny dishes of ranch dressing, and handed me a piece of fried eggplant. I must have looked skeptical, because she assured me that frying makes anything taste good (which is true.) I tentatively dipped into the sauce, and popped the whole thing into my mouth. I was prepared to chew and swallow quickly. I didn’t need to. It was quite delicious. I’m pretty sure between the two of us we ate an entire eggplant that night.

Since then, I’ve had grilled eggplant on vegetarian sandwiches and with rice pilaf. But I haven’t ever bought it and attempted to cook it myself. What can I say? I’m not Italian or Southern, and frying things scares me.

So, when I found a recipe that includes eggplant but does not include frying, I realized that it might be a match made in heaven. And I decided to take a second chance on eggplant.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup green bell peppers, chopped (optional)
• 1 can (28 ounce size) Italian-style tomatoes, cut up
• 1 can (6 ounce size) Italian-style tomato paste
• 1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional, to taste)
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata or ripe olives, sliced
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley, more if desired
• 4 cups hot cooked penne pasta
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
• 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• salt and pepper