Simple Uses for Eggplants (Aubergines)

 

When you have a large crop of eggplants from the garden or farmstand, you don't have time to casually include them in complicated recipes or to frantically figure out how to use them up before they go bad without getting sick of them.  You want to make the most of your harvest and to actually enjoy it.

Here at Plant to Plate, we like to keep things simple!  Here are some of my favorite ways to use or preserve eggplants, also called aubergines:

• Steam or sauté them with garlic and lemon balm.

• Stirfry them with tomatoes and basil.

• Stirfry them with onions and cherries.

• Sauté them with orach and ginger.

• Sauté them with jalapeños, onions, and ginger.  This is a great standalone dish, but you can also add garlic and/or cilantro if you have them on hand.

• Add them to other sautés and stirfry dishes.

• Make eggplant burgers by frying or roasting thick slices of eggplant.  These can be added to other sandwiches, paninis, and grilled cheese as well.

• Grill them with garlic and marjoram.

• Grill them with zucchini and bell peppers.

• Roast them with garlic and one of the following:  lemon juice, lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemongrass.

• Steam or sauté them and add them to pasta dishes, stovetop or baked, alone or with garlic.

• Steam or sauté them and add them to gnocchi, alone or with garlic.

• Steam or sauté them and toss them with cherry tomatoes, onions, and peppermint or another mint.

• Bake them with garlic and marinara sauce.

• Bake them with tomatoes and zucchini topped with parmesan.

• Bake them with cherries and onions.

• Use them as a substitute for beef in a variety of dishes.

• Make a simple nightshade soup with eggplants, tomatoes, and potatoes.

• Add them to other soups.

• Add them to egg dishes like quiches, egg cups, and omelets.

• Top toast, crackers, or crostini with roasted eggplant pieces and pine nuts.  Add goat cheese if desired.

• Use steamed or sautéed eggplant as a Frame in an Interesting Salad.  (Wondering why I capitalized those letters?  Read more about Interesting Salads here!)

• Dice and freeze them for later use.

• Make eggplant chips through dehydration.  Check out this article to learn more about drying and dehydrating your produce.

• Pickle them, alone or with basil, sage, or lemon balm.  Eggplants work well with both traditional and quick-pickling methods.

Further Reading

Growing eggplants?  Check out these quick facts like their best growing conditions, companion plants, and expected yields.

Eggplants are also featured in these articles:

• Quick Facts: Growing Eggplants (Aubergines)
• The Interesting Salad Protocol: How to Build an Interesting Salad

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