Spicy Sweet & Sour Eggplant Recipe

Eggplants are in season and we’ve been blessed abundantly with them from our CSA. I made this last night and it was delicious. Whether you are buying your eggplant from the local farmers market, growing your own, or finding them in your CSA shares this month, consider trying this mouth-watering whole foods recipe for a meat-free night one day this week.

Some notes on the recipe: The Arrowroot powder is the thickener in the sauce that replaces Cornstarch (typically GMO stuff). Obviously, cornstarch works as well if you don’t have access to arrowroot. The Sweet & Sour Sauce would be great with stir-fry also. If you are up to your ears in eggplant, remember, you can blanch and freeze eggplant to enjoy this winter.

Spicy Sweet & Sour Eggplant

Eggplant and bell peppers are cooked in a spicy, pineapple sweet–and–sour sauce. Serve this dish with brown rice ,quinoa or  by itself. If you aren’t able to use fresh pineapple, make sure to use pineapple canned in juice, not syrup. Serves 4

• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium red pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 large eggplant, stemmed and cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 2 cups pineapple chunks, or one 20 ounce canned, drained
• 1 batch pineapple sweet–and–sour sauce (see below)

Place onion, peppers and eggplant in a large skillet and sauté over medium high heat for 8 to 9 min. or until the vegetables are tender. Add water (1 to 2 tablespoons at a time) to keep the vegetables from sticking to the pan. I used a bit of coconut oil as well.  Add the red and green pepper, eggplant, garlic, crushed red pepper, pineapple, and sweet and sour sauce. Cook for 5 min.

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Pineapple Sweet & Sour Sauce

This unusual sauce goes well with a variety of dishes, such as spicy sweet and sour eggplant (above). There are many variations on sweet & sour sauce but this one is one of my favorites. The brightness of the pineapple juice pairs well with all kinds of vegetables and grains, and this sauce is a great one to have on hand for last-minute stirfry. Makes 2 cups.

• 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown rice syrup, or more to taste
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder, dissolved in 4 tablespoons of cold water

Combine the pineapple juice, vinegar, low-sodium soy sauce, garlic and brown rice syrup in a saucepan bring the pot to a boil, and whisked around the arrowroot mixture. Cook until thickened, about 1 min.

Above recipes are from the new: Forks Over Knives Recipe book. Loving this book which is from the documentary. If you haven’t watched this DVD documentary, or checked out the  recipe book, you can pick it up at library.

Recipe Food Facts- Did you know…

• Pineapple (especially the stem) contains bromelain which has anti-inflammatory properties.
• Eggplant skin is packed with nasunin, a powerful antioxidant that protects your cells from free radical damage.
• A single 1-cup serving of eggplant contains 3 g of dietary fiber!
• Red bell peppers contain lycopene, which may help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

HC Hung of the Harvard School of Public Health reports: eating nutrient-rich vegetables like eggplant can reduce the incidence of chronic diseases like stroke and cancer. In a paper published in the November 2004 issue of the “Journal of the National Cancer Institute,” Hung found that vegetable consumption was associated with significantly decreased chronic disease risk in a sample of 70,000 women.