What should I do with this Rosemary and Eggplant?
Asked by
Judi (
40025
)
September 24th, 2011
I just joined an organic coop where I get a basket of vegetables and fruit every week. I am not much of a cook. I have been on a calorie restricted, medically supervised diet and am just now incorporating fruits and vegetables back into my diet.
I haven’t cooked much in the last 20 years. My husband didn’t really like my vegetable rich cooking and we ate out a lot. (Thus the need for the calorie restricted diet.) About 5 years ago we did this diet and got down to a reasonable GREAT weight. We continued eating the food provided by the diet which is very nutritionally sound, but started incorporating more foods. A few pounds creeped back on so we went strict again, lost the weight and are now incorporating just fruits and vegetables. Other foods will come later, but right now, all I have to work with are the diet entrees, herbs and spices and vegetables and fruits.
I can figure out what to do with everything else in my basket, but I don’t know what to do with eggplant and rosemary. I can mix it with my entrees but I have never cooked eggplant before and I can’t use any oil. (Pam or “I can’t believe it’s not butter” spray but no oil) Here is a list of the entrees I eat if you think it will help to come up with creative recipes.
Sorry if this question contained to much information.
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15 Answers
Here’s an easy recipe for steamed egg plant with mint and parsley.
Personally I dislike rosemary and would substitute basil, oregano or marjoram.
@gailcalled do you think it would taste ok without the oil?
The oil is used for a salad dressing afterwards. You could skip that and throw on a meatless tomato sauce or several T. of salsa (my go-to food.)
Rosemary can be added to home baked bread, and there are several chicken recipes that use Rosemary.
How about grill the eggplant and put it in lasagna or some other pasta dish. Or, the grilled eggplant with grilled zuchini and mushrooms on a flat bread for a veggie sandwich. You could melt cheese on it, but I am guessng that is a no-no on the diet. You can add tahini or hummus to it for some flavor and moisture if you like things saucey.
@JLeslie ; No bread or chicken (unless it’s in the diet entrees) or cheese for me yet. Love hummus, but it has oil and I can’t do that yet either. There IS a Lasagna Entree that I might be able to mix it with.
Here is a recipe for Ratatouille. You can leave the oil out.
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
* 1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
* 1 small eggplant, cubed
* 2 green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
* 4 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped, or 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes
* 3 to 4 small zucchini, cut into ¼-inch slices
* 1 teaspoon dried leaf basil
* ½ teaspoon dried leaf oregano
* ¼ teaspoon dried leaf thyme
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Preparation:
In a 4-quart Dutch oven or saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add eggplant; stir until coated with oil. Add peppers; stir to combine. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep vegetables from sticking.
Add tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs; mix well. Cover and cook over low heat about 15 minutes, or until eggplant is tender but not too soft.
Serves 4.
As for the rosemary, do you like lamb? Rosemary is wonderful stuffed into lamb.
@marinelife I make something exactly like that with the eggplant all the time and if I want it to cook down quicker on the stove top I just peel the eggplant with a potato peeler and cut it into cubes and add it after the onions and garlic have carmelized….
“I remember my grandfather used to happily eat steamed eggplant in the summer. As a child, I thought it’s kind of a boring dish to have. But I now enjoy eating this simple dish with steamed rice or cold noodles when I crave light food. It’s a taste of summer for me. I normally dip it in the mixture of soy sauce and karashi mustard, but you can use your favorite salad dressing if you prefer.” http://japanesefood.about.com/b/2011/06/28/steamed-eggplant.htm
Also you might consider acquiring a collection of non-sweet, low calorie condiments that will work with your diet. Here’s a list of my favorites. Balsamic vinegar, brown spicy mustard, tamari (sort of a glorified soy sauce), and Celtic Sea Salt (brand). The sea salt actually has a slightly sweet taste to it, but that’s due to the minerals in it, and nothing else.
Regarding tarragon: Since it’s got a slightly sweet licorice flavor, consider using it to flavor a vinegar of your choice. You already know I prefer balsamic. Combine it, heat it up and reduce it to half (that means cook it until half of it has evaporated). Then try it on what suits you (steamed egg plant recipe above?). For starters, use less tarragon. You can always add more and simmer it a bit longer to bring out the flavor, but you can’t remove it once it’s in there.
@Kardamom, On the right of the link were links to the individual entrees that I eat. For now, the only other foods I can add are fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices, Pam type cooking spray, and a small amount of spray butter. They do have a product I can use in small amounts called PB2 which is basically peanut butter with most of the oil pressed out. You mix it with water and it acts and tastes just like peanut butter.
Otherwise, not nuts, no oils, no gravy’s or sauces, (although they have a milk based chicken soup product that I can use) no breads or grains, no proteins. I can have beans and potatoes. (forgot to mention that in my question)
I found this Cannelloni Tre Sapori recipe.
@WestRiverrat ; Your’re killing me! That looks great, but that butter and the cheese!!! Don’t tempt me!!
Sorry, I put in tarragon instead of rosemary. But if you substitute rosemary in the vinegar it will also be awesome.
Oh balsamic vinegar tastes wonderful with eggplant
I’ve been making eggplant parmesan to freeze for winter eating. I have a recipe from Eating Well magazine that uses oven baked eggplant instead of fried. You dip 3/8” thick eggplant slices in beaten egg (or egg substitute) then dried bread crumbs that are mixed with italianherbs. Lay them on a cookie sheet that’s been sprayed with Pam, bake at 350 for 15 minutes, flip and bake for 15 minutes on the other side. The slices brown a little.
The recipe calls for it to be layered with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese with Parmesan on top. I’m adding layers of thinly sliced tomatoes and chopped fresh basil from my garden.
When you’re ready to eat, bake until it’s hot and all melted. I made it last yar and DH, who is a confirmed carnivore, loved it.
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