Everything Eggplant

This week I'm going to talk about my newfound love; eggplant. 

Eggplant helps our digestive process and fights against coronary heart disease because of the high fiber content.  Eggplant also plays a role in regulating blood pressure and is packed with a number of vitamins, proteins, minerals and important phytonutrients (act like antioxidants).  If your looking to shed a few pounds for summer, incorporate eggplant into your diet as it is very low in calories and has a high moisture content.

Now that you know eggplant a little bit better, lets talk about how you can cook with it.

Stuffed Eggplant

1 .Cut Eggplant in half and scoop out the inside

2.     2. Cut the inside remains into very small pieces and fry over the stove with a little bit of oil.

3.     3. Add in you favorite ingredients, I used: tomato sauce, mushroom, celery, broccoli, garlic and pepper

4.     4. When browned scoop your mix into the shell of the eggplant

5.     5. Put a thin s layer of pasta sauce over the top, followed by spinach leaves (this can also be  substituted with cheese if you are not a vegan

        6. Place in oven for 45-50 min (until brown) on 350 F. 

Stuffed Eggplant: doesn't look very appetizing, but  it is delicious!

You can get out of knife and fork and eat the skin with the inside or choose to just eat the inside. Best paired with

a salad.

Eggplant Fries

These are quick, tasty and easy to make that can be served as a finger food or side dish.

Eggplant Fries: A tad over cook

1.    1.  Cut off the skin of the eggplant

2.     2. Cut the remaining eggplant into strips (make them as thin, thick, short or long as you like)

3.     3. Dip each strip in a boil of oil, then into a boil of breadcrumbs mix with Parmesan cheese. (Cheese is not needed, just ads additional flavor)

4.     4. Place of baking pan and cook for 20 minutes (until brown) on 375 F. Don’t forget to flip them halfway through.

You can eat your fries plan or dip them in pasta sauce, ketchup, plum sauce ect. 

That's all or this week, enjoy what you eat, Bon Appetite! 

Vegan Chocolate Cake: Failure

I have flirted with the idea of becoming a vegan for quite some time now. Every time I think I would be able to do it, my dear old friend, chocolate, stares me in the eye telling me not to do it.

This being said, this week I have decided to make a vegan chocolate cake from scratch. I found a recipe here that I decided use. When I was reading through the comments one lady suggested to use applesauce instead of oil, and honey instead of sugar. I thought I would give this a try and feel a little less guilty while eating the cake.

The cake was very easy to make and for having made the cake form scratch, the clean up wasn't to bad either. After letting the cake bake for 45 min, I decorated it (Betty Crocker Vegan icing) and brought it over to my best friends house- a vegetarian who was turning twenty-two years old.

The cake looked good, minus my decorating job, and everyone could not wait to try it. The birthday girl made the first cut and tried the first bite. She didn't spit it out, which was a good start, swallowed it and said, "it's not to bad." I thought to myself, " THIS IS GREAT, YOU CAN EAT CHOCOLATE AND BE VEGAN." I anxiously took the next bite, gagged, and spit it out instantly. I was told I was being dramatic, but I know the birthday girl was just being nice. The texture of the cake was dense and had an almost jelly- like texture. It was awful.

If you are planning on making a vegan cake- please save yourself the time, effort and embarrassment and DO NOT try this recipe. I think I may try it again using the sugar and oil, or I’ve been told to buy a regular cake mix and substitute the egg with diet soda. 

That's all for this week, feel good about what you eat- bon appetite!