Eggplant: Health Benefits, Health Tips

Summertime is simply impossible to imagine without eggplants.For many, they probably matured in the beds a long time ago and are waiting in the wings. The unique, bitter taste of this vegetable has long occupied a well-deserved niche in the blanks for the winter, and on the table immediately after preparation.

The dark-purple oblong-shaped vegetable, better known by the people as “blue”, began to be eaten by man several thousand years ago. India and South Asia are considered to be the birthplace of this vegetal family.

Historians claim that the yards of local residents at that time were simply filled with thickets of these extraordinary vegetables. The Chinese have "tasted" eggplant more than a century and a half ago, and then the Arabs-merchants brought it to Europe. Unfortunately, the European residents did not immediately like the vegetable, apparently because of its unusual taste.

But today, eggplant dishes are a decoration of many restaurant menus.

Its fruits can be of different shapes depending on the variety - from round to cylindrical, the color also varies from white, light violet to saturated lilac. Eating egg is preferable to use almost black eggplant, slightly unripe, as they have less seeds and tender flesh. Seeds in the fruit are not cleaned, and the eggplant itself is not recommended to be eaten raw.

Today, the vegetable, which in the botanical form is still a berry, is grown throughout the country. However, eggplant is very capricious in landing: it needs the sun, high temperature, preferably without differences. Therefore, it is very often grown in greenhouses. Diamond, Marzipan, Bourgeois, Black Beauty and others are recognized as one of the best varieties.

As for the composition of eggplants, they represent a real storehouse of vitamins and macronutrients: vitamins B6, B1, B2, PP, C, E, K, iron and magnesium, niacin, phosphorus and zinc, iodine and fluorine.

Absolutely no cholesterol. BMA norm is as follows:

• fat - about 3%;
• carbohydrates - 84%;
• proteins - 14%.

Eggplants are ideal for those who care about their figure: only 24 calories per 100 grams. For comparison, to burn calories after eating one fruit, you only need to walk on foot for about 6 minutes or swim in the pool for 2 minutes. You can jog 3 minutes or cycle 4 minutes. Housewives are much easier: after they have eaten 100 grams of these vegetables, they need only 8 minutes to do household chores.

That is why eggplant is included in almost all diets of the world, it is used with a vegetarian food system, with a diet on the glycemic index and Pritykina. It is clear that we are talking about fruits cooked without oil, steamed or grilled.

Considering more carefully the chemical composition of eggplants, it becomes clear how great their benefits to the human body.

• Vitamin B1 (thiamin) has a beneficial effect on the work of the brain, heart and kidneys. Without it, skeletal muscle atrophy may occur, so eggplants must be present in the menu of older people. Vegetable helps to fight diseases such as atherosclerosis and pain in the joints.
• Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) promotes the formation of red blood cells in the blood, normalizes the thyroid gland.
• AT 6 (pyridoxine) normalizes metabolism.
• Vitamin C strengthens blood vessels, strengthens muscle tone, accelerates tissue regeneration.
• PP (nicotinamide) helps with allergies, is involved in the formation of cells.

People with diabetes, "blue" is more than necessary: ​​they remove excess glucose from the body through the intestines. For this, the menu for diabetics must include eggplant dishes.

By the way, they do an excellent job with stool problems, since the fiber, which is part of the vegetable, acts laxatively.It works like a good panicle, “sweeping” dangerous toxins and fats out of the intestines.

Potassium, the mineral element found in eggplants, has a positive effect on heart function. Its salts have a diuretic effect, which means that, by eating eggplants for food, sodium is excreted from the body, which retains fluid in it.

Therefore, you can not fear for the swelling and increase in blood pressure - this is what is so necessary for hypertensive patients.

Included in the fruit and carotene, which improves eyesight, strengthens nails and hair.

In the skin of blue ones there is a dark pigment - anthocyanian cyanidin, which protects our brain from dementia, therefore in old age it is simply necessary to include eggplant dishes in the daily menu, both baked and fried, although the latter can be consumed less often.

Some doctors claim that ascorbic acid contained in vegetable pulp is an excellent prevention of colds. Zinc and manganese are necessary after a stroke, and eggplant is simply obliged to enter the diet of patients for rehabilitation.

According to many reviews, the regular use of a healthy fruit helps to quit smoking - all because of the nicotinic acid that makes up the vegetable. Eating an eggplant every day can be equated to wearing a nicotine patch.

Baked and boiled fruits are very useful for pregnant women. For example, copper, which is part of the fetus, reduces the risk of anemia, and the properties of fiber and potassium, described above, help the expectant mothers better in the birth of a healthy baby. But fried eggplants are heavy food, so they reduce their usefulness in the diet of pregnant women. If, after all, the food adopted by the expectant mother turned out to be difficult, in this case this vegetable will come to help again, but not the juice itself, but its juice, which has a choleretic property.

There is a useful vegetable, you can even a woman breastfeeding a child, however, you need to carefully monitor the reaction of the baby to prevent him from allergies.

In addition, eggplant infusions are also useful, for example, in case of gastric or intestinal diseases. The peeled vegetable cut into cubes is poured with boiling water and heated for a while in a water bath. After the resulting solution must be filtered and taken three times a day before meals. Not very tasty, but useful.

To date, there are no specific contraindications for eating eggplants.

True, you should follow some rules.

• Harm to health can only fruit in its raw form. They are absolutely impossible to eat.
• Over-grown fruits, which have been hanging on a bush for a long time and have acquired a brown color, can be harmful to health, as they already contain the maximum amount of solanine (bitterness) that can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and intestinal spasms. Simply put, overripe fruit can be poisoned. If, nevertheless, this has happened, then the patient must have plenty of drink and a strict diet.
• People with diseases such as gastritis and gastric ulcer, it is better not to overdo it with eating eggplants.

If you still purchased overripe fruits, it is necessary to soak them in cold water with the salt dissolved in it in order to reduce the solanine content.

In many cuisines of the world, eggplant is used in various variations: it is both eggplant caviar and baked vegetables, with meat or independently. Recipes for these fruits are more than enough. The main thing is that it is not only tasty, but also useful.

And for this you need to know certain rules, without which no dish reaches perfection.

Choosing fruits for the future culinary miracle, it is better to stop on slightly unripe or young vegetables. Be sure to wash them after purchase, as some unscrupulous sellers or gardeners may use different sprayers for a more perfect appearance of the fruit.

After the eggplant must be cut as required by the preparation of the dish, and be sure to salt it. This removes unnecessary bitterness from the fruit. Let the sliced ​​vegetables stand for about half an hour. Then they must be pressed before use.

You can start with the simplest - with freezing. The vegetable “feels” perfectly well in the winter time when it is unfrozen, and you get the opportunity to enjoy the aroma of summer at any time of the year.

However, before freezing, vegetables cut and squeezed from excess liquid should be boiled slightly in salted water, then rinsed with cold water and dried. Eggplant is ready to freeze!

If eggplants are stewed (caviar, ajapsandal, stew), then it is best to peel them off and salt them for 20 minutes.

If the menu eggplant fried or grilled, then the skin is better not to touch, otherwise the ready-made vegetables fall apart. Baked fruits have an incomparable taste. They are simply removed from the crust with a knife or fork, and the pulp is softened according to the principle of mashed potatoes.

Anyone who cooked eggplants in olive oil or other vegetable oil, could note that no matter how much you pour it into the pan, it is always small. Eggplants absorb butter like a sponge, becoming calorie-rich and less useful for this, so it’s best to cook them in the oven or on the fire. In extreme cases, it is recommended to use a pan with a non-stick coating and use a minimum amount of oil. If there is still no way out, but eggplants are simply necessary, cooks recommend rolling them in flour (you can add some salt) and fry them in this form.

Any dish from blue does not do without garlic. This tandem has proven itself for a long time. Garlic emphasizes the sharpness and unusualness of the vegetable taste, and together with other spices and herbs you will achieve recognition from all tasters.

Professional chefs recommend not to twist the vegetable in the meat grinder to prepare such a classic dish as eggplant caviar. It should be cut with a ceramic knife or wooden special cleaver, but in no case a metal knife, so as not to spoil the taste of the dish.

To avoid sticking or darkening of the pulp, fry need sliced ​​circles or "tongues" on high heat.

Eggplants are very popular in Caucasian cuisine and dishes from the Middle East.

A win-win is baked vegetables served with fresh herbs and fragrant spices.

If at the time of cooking there is no possibility to use the grill, then an ordinary oven is used. Eggplants, bell peppers and tomatoes (the amount depends on your desire) are gently prickled with a fork, smeared with a little bit of olive oil and sent to a preheated oven on a baking sheet or in a special form. Vegetables are baked until a “burnt” crust appears, the main thing is not to overdo it, and to do this, turn them over several times for quality baking.

We remove the extracted vegetables from the crust, seeds are removed from the Bulgarian pepper, and everything is finely crumbled. Then garlic (to taste), salt and pepper is added to the resulting mass, a little lemon juice is poured in, balsamic vinegar can be added. Everything is mixed, and parsley is added. The dish should stand a little, and then be served to the table.

Italians have long learned to use eggplants in their national dishes.

Vegetables make a wonderful sauce for spaghetti.

For this you need:

• a kilo of eggplants;
• spaghetti - 500 g;
• tomatoes - 400 g;
• garlic - 5 cloves;
• olive or sunflower oil;
• salt, pepper and basil.

Vegetables are baked in the oven - they should be cut into slices, can be further divided into two parts. The main thing is that they are well baked. At this time, brought to readiness spaghetti. In a heated frying pan, fry the garlic in olive oil, add the finely chopped tomatoes. The mass is quenched before the practical evaporation of the liquid. From the cooled eggplant gently peeled, then they are poured into tomatoes with garlic, add salt and pepper and served as a dressing to the finished spaghetti. From above everything is sprinkled with basil.

In cooking, a huge number of variations of eggplant rolls with filling are presented. You can add cheese, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, nuts, greens, whatever your heart desires.

For the manufacture of delicious and original rolls required:

• 0.5 kg of eggplants;
• 100 g cream cheese (can be replaced by any soft);
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• cooking oil for frying;
• black pepper, salt and greens.

Eggplants are cut along the plates, the skin does not need to be removed. Salted and pressed, they are fried in butter, folded on a napkin, so that excess oil is drained from them.

Grate garlic or skip through a press, combined with chopped greens and cream cheese. Optionally, you can pepper and salt, then put a lot on each plate of eggplants and roll them up in the form of a roll. To make the rolls not lose their shape, you can fix them with a toothpick and put them on large lettuce leaves, sprinkled with chopped walnuts.

In the summer heat, cold appetizers made from eggplants, the so-called turrets, are especially popular.

The principle of their preparation is quite simple. It is necessary to fry the previously salted and squeezed vegetable circles, cook the same-sized tomato circles. Snacks require mozzarella cheese, but you can substitute it for some other soft cheese if desired. He, too, cut into circles. Eggplants are lightly fried in olive oil, then all the ingredients are stacked on top of each other, salt and pepper them, sprinkle with slightly balsamic vinegar and place the turret in a baking tray. An appetizer is baked for about 20 minutes, then decorated with a sprig of basil and served to the table.

Every self-respecting hostess can not do without canning eggplant for the winter: “Spark”, “Teschin language”, assorted, heh, stew - the list is endless. A prerequisite: cooked according to any recipe, blue ones must be sterilized in cans so that they retain their taste and the banks survive the winter season.

Summing up, it can be argued that eggplants are ideal for frying, salting, pickling, fermentation and canning. The main thing is to be able to emphasize its unusual taste with the help of suitable "companions" - bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes and carrots. In this case, the piquancy of the dish is guaranteed.

About the harm and benefits of eggplant, see the following video.