Shades of night, passionate purple, with antioxidants and fiber to help your body feel alive. That’s the eggplant.

What started out wild in India, then cultivated in China, has been tamed and renamed in regions all over the world. For the French, it’s aubergine; for Italians, it’s melongene; and we Americans can thank Thomas Jefferson for wandering the European countryside and bringing this fruit to the States in 1806.

Yes..it’s a fruit, like the tomato, but as they say… “Don’t put it in a fruit salad”

Sought after antioxidants, vital for disease prevention possibly including some cancers (suggest some studies), are found mostly in the deep colored skin, stem, leaves and calyx, which is that green part just below the stem.

The flesh of the eggplant holds powerful nutrients, high fiber, and low soluble carbs which the Mayo Clinic and American Diabetes Association recommend for management of type 2 diabetes. The flesh has antioxidant benefits as well, just at a lower level than the rest of the fruit.

The flesh has other benefits: it’s delicious!

When cooking eggplant you have to be careful. It has a voracious appetite for oil and   sucks it up, along with a lot of extra calories, if you fry it or use too much oil in your cooking.

The simplest way to cook it is baking, in the skin, as described in the Eggplant Dip. Other recipes call for you to sprinkle it with salt and then let it drain to remove any bitter taste.

You can freeze it after it’s been cooked.

For this eggplant dip recipe: what I love most is it makes a great, healthy alternative to other fatty dips and spreads you may be used to, it’s simple to make, and easy on your budget.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 1 lg Eggplant
  • 1 tsp Sea Salt
  • Pepper to Taste
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • ½ Tbsp Wine Vinegar (or Distilled Vinegar)
  • 1 tsp Garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp Greek Yogurt, plain

How to Prepare:

  1. Wash the eggplant. Place it in a shallow baking pan and bake for 400° for 1 hour, until tender.
  2. *The skin will stay hard while the flesh will cook nicely within
  3. Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel back the skin, scoop out the flesh, and place it in a bowl. Mash with a fork.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and adjust seasonings to your own taste.
  5. Chill until ready to serve.