Good for You
One cup of cooked eggplant has just 150 kilojoules and provides two grams of fibre. Eggplant also contains nearly two dozen other nutrients, including heart-healthy fatty acids and the trace minerals manganese and copper – both important for proper muscle function. Its purple color comes from antho-cyanins, antioxidants that may help prevent cancer.
Get the Best
Globe is the most common eggplant, but farmers’ markets often carry a Japanese variety (which is long and thin) as well as striped, white, and baby varieties. Choose an eggplant that feels firm and heavy for its size. The skin should be glossy and the stem fresh and green. Store whole eggplant at room temperature or in the fridge and use within a few days.
Kitchen Simple
Before baking or roasting, use a fork to puncture a whole eggplant all over so steam can escape. Peel the tough, thick skin off larger or white eggplants after cooking; thinner, tender skin on smaller eggplants can be eaten. Wells makes baba ghanoush by pureeing roasted eggplant (skin removed) with chopped garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and salt. Use as a dip for vegetables or chips, or try it on sandwiches.
