Roasted Eggplant with Spiced Honey Glaze
I love food. That is a fact. It's probably a major reason as to why I have such a hard time keeping off the weight, but that's another topic entirely.
Anyway, I've been home alone for these past two weekends and that gives me free range of the kitchen - finally. Last weekend, I did a lot of things (made Roasted Pepper Pesto and an Italian-Mediterranean hybrid something that resulted in some sort of tomato-rice/grain-soup-stew). This weekend, I decided to finish the leftovers (and I made these awesome flour-free chocolate cookies, but I substituted a teaspoon of ground allspice instead of vanilla extract for a surprise kick).. however, today, my last day where I'm The Cook, I decided to try something new.
See, I was planning on making Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie later this week so I was making an inventory of the fridge when I found a ton of Asian eggplant. Next thing I know, I find myself searching for eggplant-based recipes, although I was initially hesitant because the best eggplant I ever had was in China and I've never found a place or recipe that could match it, and, to my displeasure, most of them were either "Asian-inspired" or of the Eggplant Parmigiana variety. (There was also a post on "Eggplant Bacon" which perked my curiosity but the link's down.) Then, I found something slightly more interesting: Honey and Harissa Glazed Eggplant. My first thought came out to be, 'what in the world is harissa??' Turns out it's a "Tunisian hot chili sauce... eaten in North Africa...". Well, although my tolerance for spicy foods have increased since my stay in Korea and their need to challenge and/or burn off their taste buds, I don't feel the need to continue that when I don't have to. Hence, this was what I came up with:
Roasted Eggplant with Spiced Honey Glaze
(roughly based on this recipe)
Serves around 2 - depends on how much you eat, etc.
THE INGREDIENTS
(all measurements are rough estimates - cooking is an experiment so adjust according to your tastes)
- 4 Asian Eggplants, cut into "fries"
- A generous amount of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 to 1.5 TBSP fresh ginger, minced
- 1 to 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground paprika
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 to 3 tsp tomato paste
- 2 TBSP fresh lemon/lime juice, or more if you prefer
- 1 tsp salt
HOW TO GO ABOUT IT
First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place aluminum foil on top of a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. Spread it evenly on the surface and arrange the cut eggplant "fries" in a single layer. Coat with more olive oil and roast in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Turn them halfway through for even roasting.
In a pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil on low and add the minced ginger. Saute it for around 30 seconds and stir in the rest of the ingredients (cumin, cinnamon, paprika, honey, tomato paste, lemon/lime juice, and salt). Cook until it begins to boil then turn off the heat.
Take the roasted eggplant and place into the pan with the honey glaze. Turn on the heat to low and saute until incorporated and warm. Once cooked, taste and add additional seasonings if needed and serve.
NOTES
- I used 3.5 Asian eggplants; I believe the original recipe called for the fat round ones. As a result, my "fries"/wedges were a little thinner. If that's the case, remember to thoroughly coat all your eggplant pieces or else it will stick to the pan/foil/what-you-baked-it-on. However, my babies still turned out all right and were sweet and delicious.
- Because of the sheer amount of spices, it would be advisable to have all your ingredients already pre-measured and ready for throwing into the pan. Just sayin'.
- Just in case you didn't notice, paprika was the substitute for the harissa. I also ended up using almost (roughly) 3 tablespoons of lemon/lime juice and I got a little happy with the tomato paste and ginger.
- I loved the sauce - my dad likened it to BBQ sauce while he expressed his pleasure, but I only vaguely remember what BBQ sauce tastes like... I think he only compared it to the memory as well, haha. Anyway, the eggplant was tender and had that "meaty" texture that makes it loved by most vegetarians - plus the roasting brought out it's natural sweetness. The sauce definitely had a kick and I most certainly detected the ginger (good thing I love ginger, which was probably why I minced a ton of it - I'm thinking about making ginger-spiced warm milk tonight with leftover minced gingerbefore bed). It was tangy-sweet but my happy spooning-out-and-plopping of the tomato paste mellowed it out enough so that the spices (and ginger) wasn't overpowering. All in all, I believe it's a winner!
Eggplant After Roasting.
The Final Product.