Eggplant recipe

Do you like eggplants, aubergines, guinea squash? Honestly speaking I didn't till the time I had learned this eggplant recipe. If you haven't fallen in love with this beautiful berry yet (yes, strictly speaking eggplant is considered as berry in biology!), then here are few stunning facts for you:

1. Number one in my mini hit-parade is eggplant fights cholesterol! Yes, eggplant helps you reduce your cholesterol level!
2. Number two is about folic acid. Eggplant is very rich in this vitamin, which is extremely important for women, especially for those who are trying to conceive or are pregnant already.
3. Number three is for those who want to live long happy life. Eggplant is good source of potassium, which is very beneficial for your cardiovascular system.

So now you must be eager to see eggplant recipe. Here it is!

Cooking time: 30 min

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

1 eggplant

6 Roma tomatoes or any other tomatoes of your choice

6 garlic cloves

Greens bunch (dill, parsley and coriander work perfect, but you can also try your favorite ones)

Olive oil

Slice eggplant, sprinkle it generously with salt and let it stay for 10-15 minutes, then rinse with cold water and pat dry (this process is called 'degorging'). Don't afraid to put too much salt, after rinsing only necessary amount will remain. Actually you can skip this boredom with salting-waiting-rinsing, but there are few reasons it's better to do it. First is it reduces amount of fat that eggplant absorbs during cooking. Believe me, eggplant can absorb tons of fat, sauce or water, so it's good to reduce it a little bit. Second reason is it reduces bitterness. However, modern varieties of eggplant are not bitter anymore. Third reason is all eggplants as well as other nightshades like tomatoes or potatoes contain solanine poison. The older eggplant is, the higher solanine concentration it has. It is not serious poison, but I'd prefer to reduce it with salting-waiting-rinsing.

While eggplants are degorging, let's prepare other components. Slice tomatoes as shown on the picture and set aside. Chop greens bunch well; grate, chop or press garlic and mix it with greens. Add a very small pinch of salt, mix again pressing it altogether and set aside. Salt and press increase mixture flavor because it makes juices from greens and garlic exude and mix together.

Heat oil in large skillet to medium-high. Fry eggplant slices on both sides till golden-brown.

Arrange eggplant slides in serving bowl in one layer. Cover it with one layer of tomatoes. Sprinkle greens-garlic mixture over it. Then repeat eggplant-tomatoes-greens layers with remaining ingredients. This purple-red-green combination looks very beautiful in glass bowl. Feel hungry? Not it's time to eat!

You can serve it warm or cold, it is delicious both ways. Honestly speaking, I cooked and ate it warm for my dinner right before I started this article. But now, after few hours thinking and writing about eggplant recipe, I can't resist temptation to have few more bites of chilled combination of eggplant, tomatoes and garlic.. Mmm.. Yummy!