Eggplant for babies and Ratatouille

Eggplant for babies

Ty LOVED and still loves eggplant from an early age. For baby food I would not cut and salt the eggplant, instead I would jut slice it and steam it. After cool I would puree it and wahlah! Babyfood! For first finger food stage I would cut it into little cubes and steam it. Although it would turn a pretty nasty color, and really have no taste, Ty would scarf down the soft little cubes in no time flat.

Garden Vegetable and Turkey Ratatouille

This is not really Ratatouille (a vegetable stew), well the top is, but come on, what kid does not eating it after watching one of the best animated films ever made? This is great food for toddlers and adults! Feel free to change up the vegetables to your favorites as well as the meat choice (or you can leave the meat out vegetarians).

• 1 medium summer squash
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 large onion
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1lg green/red/yellow pepper, sliced
• (All the above should be sliced into very thin rounds)
• 1lb cooked ground turkey
• 2c cooked brown rice (you can use brown rice pasta if you would like or any of your other favorite rice/pasta) cooked in your favorite sodium free broth
• handful of fresh or dried herbs (think Italian herbs, rosemary, basil, oregano)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 jar of your favorite tomato based pasta sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• EVOO

1. Put a thin layer of pasta sauce on bottom of large glass oven safe pan and top with rice
2. Top with turkey, salted and peppered, mix garlic in to turkey first
3. Top turkey with more pasta sauce
4. Take all your vegetables and put them in a large bowl.
5. Salt, pepper, and toss vegetables with a little EVOO and mix in herbs
6. Place vegetables on top of meat in an even layer
7. Bake at 350 until vegetables are soft!

I am back- The wonderful world of EGGPLANT

I know, I know, I have not been posting. But I am back and ready to pick up the normal pace.

This week is going to focus on the delicious eggplant (make sure you check back for dishes that use eggplant). Yep, you read that right, delicious EGGPLANT. Ok, so eggplant is not that delicious and pretty much tastes like what ever you cook it with, but if you have been afraid of eggplant in the past (mostly because everyone says “yuck”) or if you have had some bad eggplant dish that turned you off, it is time to give it another try. Trust me, eggplant can rock if you cook it right.

Eggplant nutrition
Eggplant is a low calorie food that is great source of fiber. It is also a great source of vitamins K and B6 as well as Thiamin, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.
You can fatten up your eggplant in a hurry with many traditional fried recipes or those full of cheese so this week I will try to show you how to make those recipes still delicious but also healthier for you!

Picking out an eggplant at the grocery
Look for eggplants that are size appropriate (for their kind, like a mini eggplant should be small). Don’t buy the huge ones because they will be tough and have lots of seeds. Make sure it is firm and still has a little bit of stem on it (leaves are good too).

Eggplant prep
Wash outside of eggplant well (you are eating the skin here so try to buy organic if you can)
Cut off the stem, top of eggplant, and bottom (just to make it flat) and then slice the plant in slices 1/2 to 1 inch rounds. You can also go with long slices, but make sure they are still 1/2 to 1 inch thick.
Sprinkle the eggplant with kosher salt and leave in a strainer for at least 20min to draw out the moisture. Eggplant will turn brown if not salted, and still may turn brown, don't worry about it!
Blot eggplant with a paper towel (or better yet a clean lint free towel) and remove any excess salt.
Cook!

Growing an eggplant
We grew them this year because I got some plants for free. We only got one eggplant per plant (probably because of where I placed them) but they were great! It takes about 75 days for an eggplant to mature and bear fruit. You want to pick them when they are firm and not at all spongy (poke it with your finger, you should not leave an imprint and if it does the skin should bounce back right away). The skin should be taunt and not turning brown (if it is brown, you need to pick it ASAP). Don’t wait for your eggplant to get huge or you are going to end up with some crunchy seeds in your food. When you pick your eggplant use garden shears and leave a little stem on it. They will keep in the fridge for a week or so.