Eggplant is a delicious product with unique properties. A little cooking and freezing tweaks will maximize the benefits. All varieties are suitable for eating, but the most useful is the most popular dark eggplant.
Botanical secret
The amazing purple alien from India represents the glorious nightshade family. Tomatoes and potatoes are his “relatives”. From the point of view of science, the fruit of an eggplant is correctly called a berry. Breeders have developed varieties with white, striped and green skin. The beneficial substances contained in it are identical to those from dark berries.
Eggplant for a healthy lifestyle
This product is extremely important as part of a healthy diet. The berry contains vitamins of group B, necessary for the nervous system, provitamin A, C, E. Thanks to the content of vitamin PP, eggplants help to endure smoking cessation easier. Eggplants contain potassium, calcium, magnesium, which are essential for the cardiovascular system. Eggplant owes its unique ability to lower bad cholesterol levels to chlorogenic acid. The peel contains a substance important for blood formation. Due to the abundance of soluble fiber and pectin, the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract is normalized. Folic acid improves brain activity and is essential in the diet of pregnant women. Calorie content per 100 g is about 28 kcal, but raw eggplants are inedible. Contained in fruits, especially overripe, the alkaloid solanine is bitter. In large quantities, it can even cause poisoning. Eggplants are inedible when raw. Heat treatment makes the eggplant delicious.
Cooking secret
Habitual frying increases the calorie content (up to 150 kcal per 100 g) and reduces the content of nutrients. In order for the eggplants to absorb less oil, it is recommended to prepare them before frying. Wash, cut as required by the recipe. Put in a deep enamel bowl, salt at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 1 kg of fruit and leave for 30 minutes. After that, squeeze the eggplant from the released juice and start frying. This technique cuts oil consumption by half. The calorie content will be approximately 100 kcal per 100 g. The best way to prepare a low-calorie eggplant dish is to bake it without oil on the grill or in the oven. Then mash the pulp with a fork, add spices, lemon juice and olive oil. A healthy tasty dish is ready.
Correct freezing
Eggplant is a seasonal product available in late summer or early fall. But they are easy to freeze for the winter, preserving up to 70-80% of nutrients. Preserving reduces the amount of vitamins by up to 40%. Eggplants, frozen in their raw form, taste very bitter after cooking and have a “rubbery” texture. Blanching gives the product extra wateriness. It is ideal to freeze eggplant pre-baked in the oven or in a non-stick skillet. Remove the stem from clean berries. Cut in half lengthwise, place on a baking sheet, peel side down and place in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 ° C. Cool down. Then put the halves in bags (containers) and place in the freezer. To prepare the dish, defrost the workpiece in the microwave.
