Eggplant, Chickpea & Pomegranate Stew

It seems like this week flew by - It was my first week back at school after the holidays, so I had extra work to catch up on. I also decided to try out a couple of workout classes at the school gym because they were offering a free fitness week, so that kept me at school later than usual too (not that I'm complaining - it felt great to squeeze in some exercise during the workday)!

With less time and energy left over to cook meals for myself this week, I was happy that I had made a big batch of this stew on Monday to get me through!

I saw this recipe in a magazine that my older sister got for me in Ireland before Christmas, and I was drawn in by the beautiful photo of the dish as well as the ingredients.  In particular, I was intrigued by the addition of both pomegranate seeds and pomegranate molasses - an ingredient that I've been meaning to try out for a while, after reading about it on Janet's blog!

The recipe was pretty easy to follow, although I made a few tweaks and changed the amounts of certain ingredients. Basically, you cut thin slices of eggplant and saute them on the stovetop to get them nice and brown, then you layer the slices in a casserole dish like a lasagna with a mixture of chickpeas, tomatoes, onion, garlic and spices.  The chickpea mixture is also enriched by the pomegranate molasses, which is thick and syrupy with a sweet and tangy flavour.

I have to say, this is probably my favourite eggplant dish that I've tried so far. By slicing it thin and browning it well, it loses some of its spongy texture and paired well with the other ingredients.

I also loved how the pomegrante seeds took this from a simple eggplant and chickpea stew to something a bit more interesting and flavourful!  And now that I've finally tracked down a bottle of pomegranate molasses, I can't wait to start trying it out in more recipes!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Eggplant, Chickpea & Pomegranate Stew
Adapted from Cook Vegetarian magazine (online version here)
Note: I called this a stew but unlike a typical stew, it does not have a lot of liquid, so it's more of a dry stew (for lack of a better term)!

2 medium eggplants (about 1 lb each), sliced lengthwise into ½” thick slices

3 tbsp olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 green chili pepper (or other small pepper), minced

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp ground coriander

Dash of cinnamon

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 28 oz can chopped tomatoes (I used the no-salt added kind)

2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Pinch of chili flakes (optional for a spicier stew, depending on how hot your chili pepper is - mine wasn't very hot)

Salt and pepper to taste

~1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

4-6 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Sprinkle the eggplant slices with salt and lay in a colander (I divided them into two colanders). Let sit for about 20 minutes, then rinse the salt off with water and dry the slices with paper towel.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Heat 2 large skillets over medium-high heat.  Pour 2 tbsp of olive oil in a small bowl and use it to brush the eggplant slices. Brush one side of each eggplant slice and lay the oiled side face down in the skillet.  Repeat with as many eggplant slices as you can fit in the two pans without overlapping. Once the slices are in the pan, brush the top side with oil.  Cook each side for 3-5 minutes, until well browned, then flip over and cook the other side.  Transfer cooked slices to a plate and repeat process with the remaining eggplant slices until they are all cooked.

Bring one pan back to medium heat with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add the onion, garlic, ginger, chili, and spices. Cook, stirring often, for about 4-5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the chickpeas and tomatoes to the pan. Stir in the pomegranate molasses and chili flakes (if using) and season with salt and pepper.

Layer half of the eggplant slices over the bottom of a greased 13x9” baking dish. Pour about half of the chickpea mixture over the slices, spreading with a spoon or spatula to distribute evenly.  Cover with the remaining eggplant slices, then top with the rest of the chickpea mixture. Place in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

When ready to serve, sprinkle the parsley and pomegranate seeds over top of the dish, or you can serve each portion and then add about 1 tbsp parsley and 1 tbsp pomegranate seeds (or more if desired) as a garnish to each plate. (Note: Before eating, you might want to use a knife to cut the eggplant into smaller slices; otherwise, you can just use your fork to break it up as you eat).

Makes 4-5 servings.

Thai Green Curry with Tofu and Eggplant

After my daikon radish cakes, the next Asian dish that I wanted to try making at home was a Thai green curry.  Before my trip to Thailand, I would usually stick with red curry at restaurants but now I know that the other types of Thai curries, including the green and yellow varieties, are just as complex and delicious, if not more!

When I first set out to recreate a green curry at home, I planned on buying a jar of premade curry paste.  I had always assumed that making your own curry paste would be too difficult or that I would never be able to find the right ingredients. But after looking at a few recipes for homemade green curry paste, I realized that it wouldn't be too hard to make, and the result would probably taste much more authentic!

So I made a visit to the nearest Asian food market and picked up all of the ingredients that I would need, including some that I'd never bought before like fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil.  Finding all the right ingredients was probably the hardest part of the whole process because none of the herbs were labelled and I had no idea what anything was, but eventually I got everything that I needed and couldn't wait to get home and start cooking with them!

I made the curry paste the day before I made the actual curry.  I didn't want to try tasting it on its own, but I could tell that it would have a lot of flavour just by its smell.  (Actually, I did try a tiny taste, but I don't recommend doing that - it does not taste good and my tongue was practically on fire!)

For the curry itself, I followed a recipe from my Canadian Living cookbook, which called for tofu, eggplant, grean beans and okra.  I changed the vegetables a bit my replacing the green beans with Chinese long beans and adding some bok choy instead of okra.  Then the broth is made by simmering the green curry paste with coconut milk and vegetable broth, with some lime juice and Thai basil added at the end.

When I finally got to try the curry, I was not disappointed! I thought the broth definitely tasted authentic, and had such a complex flavour - spicy, herbal, and slightly sweet from the coconut milk.  I really liked the pieces of soft tofu, but I wasn't crazy about the long beans - next time I would just use regular green beans like the recipe called for, or leave them out.

Now that I've learned how to make green curry, I can't wait to try some other kinds - I would love to find a good recipe for Panang curry since that was one of my favourite meals that I ate in Thailand, so if anyone has a recipe, let me know!

Thai Green Curry with Tofu and Eggplant
*I followed the recipe from Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Collection pretty closely, so rather than rewriting it out here, I will link to the recipe online and list the changes that I made.

Green Curry Paste
Recipe can be found here
- the only change I made was to replace the lime zest with 5 kaffir lime leaves, minced first before adding to the food processor

Curry
Recipe can be found here
- Used 8 oz of regular eggplant because I had already bought some, but next time I would try the Japanese eggplant
- Replaced the green beans with 1 cup of Chinese long beans (although next time I would use regular green beans)
- Left out the okra
- Added 2 stalks of Shanghai bok choy, thinly sliced and added to the pot during the last 2 minutes of cooking time
- Added two kaffir lime leaves, sliced in half lengthwise, added to the pot at the same time as the tofu
- Used 1/4 cup of chopped fresh Thai basil instead of the coriander

Makes 4 servings.

Eggplant Parmesan Salad and Eggplant Chips

At my visit to the farmer's market today, I saw lots of gorgeous eggplants of all shapes and sizes and remembered a recipe that I recently bookmarked from one of my favourite blogs, A Couple Cooks. The recipe was for an Eggplant Parmesan Salad - a sort of deconstructed eggplant parmesan in the form of a light summery salad. I love caprese salads and I thought the idea of adding sliced eggplant and parmesan sounded very creative and delicious!

I happened to have all of the rest of the ingredients on hand already, so I made this salad for lunch as soon as I got home from the market, and it was just as good as I hoped it would be! The eggplant came out with just the right texture - still a bit soft and nicely browned, and along with the tomatoes, cheese, basil, and balsamic, this salad was very fresh and flavourful!

I won't repost the recipe here, because I really didn't change it from the original other than using mini bocconcini for the mozzarella, and leaving out the croutons. I also adjusted all of the amounts to make a single serving.

You can find the recipe over at A Couple Cooks.

Since I still had lots of eggplant to use up and my hunger wasn't completely satisfied after the salad, I also decided to make a snack of eggplant chips from another recipe I had found online for Indian spiced eggplant chips with a yogurt raita.

I didn't slice the eggplant very evenly, so some of my chips were crispier than others, but I actually liked the variety of textures! The chips were warm and spicy, and they paired nicely with the cool creamy raita.

Again, I followed the recipe pretty closely, so head on over to All Day I Dream About Food to find it! The only change I made was to leave the mint out of the raita. My eggplant also took the full 30 minutes to cook, and then I left the thicker slices in for another 5 minutes.