Garlic Eggplant Stir Fry|expandthetable/vegan

Garlic Eggplant Stir Fry

Eggplant that melts in your mouth with a slightly sweet sauce that make you want to reach for seconds! I love the small eggplant—you don’t need to peel them and what a fabulous blend with reconstituted dried shitake mushrooms. Don't forget the liquid from the shitake mushrooms--add it to the sauce. It's a great secret ingredient.

This is an expandable recipe open to so many yummy vegetable options like fennel, broccoli or carrots. Serve over rice or try rice noodles for a change. Be sure to get out the chop sticks! Recipe is below.

Foodie Lit

Laurie Boris told me it was both fun and terrifying to write her dystopian novel, The Kitchen Brigade. There is a long history of these novels, perhaps the most famous is Orwell’s 1984. These are grim views of the future.

Laurie places her main scenes in the kitchen. She explained, “I liked the focus of the kitchen because of the universality and the comfort it creates. It transcends language and cultural differences. It’s a refuge as well as a hotbed of conflict.” A frightening look at a future we hope will never come.

Review and Recipe

Garlic Eggplant Stir Fry

Serves 6

Sauce

1/4 to 1/3 cup tamari sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons white wine

5 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 cup water from dried shitake mushroom reconstitution

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Stir Fry

3 small eggplants, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 bell peppers, 1 red, 1 green, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 dried shitake mushrooms

1 tablespoon peeled and minced fresh ginger

1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

In a bowl, mix together sauce ingredients. Whisk until cornstarch is smoothly incorporated. Set aside.
In 1-cup very hot water, place 2-3 dried shitake mushrooms. Leave for 8 minutes. Drain liquid and reserve for sauce. Mince mushrooms.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or sauté pan. Add eggplant and cook, stirring continuously, for about 8 minutes. Remove from wok and place in colander over a bowl, to drain excess oil.
Sauté vegetables separately in wok: onion, celery and bell peppers. Add to colander.
Place sauce, with garlic, mushrooms and ginger, in hot wok. Stir continuously until sauce is thickened. Add vegetables back in and stir to combine with sauce. Serve over brown rice and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Expandthetable suggestions

For diabetics: Use Stevia in place of honey in sauce.
Allium Free: Use 1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced, in place of onion. Omit garlic.
Add other thinly sliced veggies: carrots, bok choy, cabbage.
Add protein: Add 1 package tofu, drained and cubed. Place tofu on parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with soy sauce and sesame oil. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until browned. Flip over and bake another 5-10 minutes until browned on other side. Remove from oven and add to stir fry with vegetables added to sauce.
Make it spicier: Add 1 jalapeño chili pepper, minced
Use rice noodles in place of rice.