How to Enjoy Eggplant

From Sonoma Diet

You might assume this purple veggie is a no-no because of its most popular method of preparation: breaded, fried, smothered in mozzarella, and drenched in tomato sauce. Eggplant, however, is anything but off limits on The Sonoma Diet — just wait until you try our lightened-up version of the classic Eggplant Parmigiana!

Pear-shaped and most commonly rich purple in color, eggplant has long been a staple of Italian cooking. Its meaty texture, as well as its high fiber content, provides a filling meal for relatively few calories (about 30 in a 1-cup serving). And the purple skin does more than just make an eggplant look majestic. The peel of an eggplant contains nasunin, a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to protect brain cells.

When selecting eggplant at your grocery store, look for it to be fairly heavy-feeling, with smooth flesh. Any bruises or scars will be apparent on the flesh, and a light-feeling eggplant will probably have tough flesh. Since raw eggplant is naturally firm and bitter-tasting, it should be eaten cooked. No need to worry about overcooking it — while eggplant tastes somewhat bitter and spongy when undercooked, it just becomes softer and more succulent when overcooked.

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