It is difficult to find someone who is not aware of the benefits of vegetables. Even after heat treatment, they retain a large amount of vitamins, macro- and microelements necessary for our body. Fiber does not disappear anywhere, which allows you to maintain a good figure. At the same time, vegetables have a low calorie content, but they are able to satisfy the feeling of hunger. Especially well cope with this eggplant, having a fleshy structure and is well combined with any other vegetables, as well as mushrooms and meat. For this reason, eggplant vegetable stew is happy to cook most housewives, at least in the summer-autumn season, when these wonderful vegetables are available even to families with low incomes.
Cooking Features
Most housewives are well aware of the specific features of eggplants, which leave their mark on the technology of cooking vegetable stew from these vegetables. The general rules for cooking vegetable stews also remain in force. So in order to make a truly tasty dish of eggplants and other vegetables, you need to know a few important points.
- Eggplants contain solanine. It is to him that the “blue ones” owe their color as well as another property — an unpleasant bitter aftertaste. Considering that solanine gives bitterness to vegetables and does not apply to useful substances, it is necessary to get rid of it. Fortunately, it is not difficult to do this: it is enough to salt the peeled eggplants and wait half an hour for the salt to draw solanine out of them. After that, the eggplants will be rinsed in running water and dried.
- Most of all solanine is contained in the skin. Therefore, eggplants are usually peeled. Moreover, their skin often remains firm and spoils the pleasure of eating vegetable stew. For this reason, it is recommended to remove the sandpaper from eggplants using a peeler. An exception is when the recipe provides for the preparation of unpeeled eggplants in order to preserve the shape of their pieces.
- Very often, eggplant stews include zucchini. Together, these vegetables give the stew a rich and harmonious taste. Unlike eggplants, zucchini does not need such serious preparation. Young zucchini enough to wash and dry. Large zucchini peeled from the skin, cut in half and a spoon extracted from them the seeds.
- Given that eggplant vegetable stew is most often cooked in summer, it is advisable to use fresh tomatoes to make it. They can be cut and added to the stew without clearing, but it is still better to clean. To do this, they wrap boiling water or blanch for a couple of minutes. After this procedure, clear the tomatoes is not difficult.
- Vegetables have a different structure. For this reason, their preparation takes an unequal amount of time. The conclusion suggests itself: they need to be laid in a certain sequence. Unless otherwise stated in the recipe, first put solid vegetables (potatoes, carrots), the last - vegetables with a delicate structure (for example, zucchini, eggplant).
Given the above rules and observing the recommendations accompanying a particular recipe, even an inexperienced hostess can cook a delicious eggplant stew.
Vegetable stew with eggplants and zucchini
Composition:
- eggplants - 0.5 kg;
- zucchini - 0, 25 kg;
- sweet pepper - 0, 5 kg;
- carrots - 0, 2 kg;
- onions - 100 g;
- tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
- lemon juice - 20 ml;
- sugar - a pinch;
- water or vegetable broth - 100-150 ml;
- fresh parsley - 50 g;
- salt, pepper - to taste;
- vegetable oil - as required.
Method of preparation:
- Clean the eggplants, cut them into cubes of about 1 cm. Salt the water, dissolving a tablespoon of salt in 2 liters of water. Dip the eggplants in this solution for 20-30 minutes.
- Rinse the eggplants well, put it on a kitchen towel so that it absorbs the excess moisture.
- Wash, blot the young squash with napkins and cut it into cubes of the same size as the eggplant pieces.
- Peel the onion and cut it into thin quarters of rings.
- Wash the peppers. Cut the stalks from them, remove the seeds. The flesh of the peppers cut into strips.
- Chop parsley with a knife.
- On the tomatoes on the opposite side of the stem, make a cross-cut. Dip tomatoes for a couple of minutes in boiling water. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to cold water. After a few minutes, remove the tomatoes and from cold water. Remove the skin from them. Peeled tomatoes cut into small cubes.
- Peel and chop the carrots.
- Heat oil in a thick-walled pot or in a cauldron. Put onions, carrots, zucchini and eggplants. Fry the vegetables on medium heat, stirring for 10 minutes.
- Put the remaining vegetables in the cauldron. Sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper. Pour broth. Simmer for 20 minutes over medium heat. At the same time often mix and make sure that the vegetables are not burnt.
Pour a small amount of lemon juice over the vegetable stew before serving, sprinkle with parsley.
Vegetable stew with eggplants and beans
Composition:
- eggplants - 0, 4 kg;
- zucchini - 0, 4 kg;
- sweet pepper - 0, 4 kg;
- tomatoes - 0, 8 kg;
- canned beans - 0, 3-0, 4 kg;
- water - 0, 25 l;
- cheese - 100 g;
- greens, salt, seasonings - to taste;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- vegetable oil - as needed.
Method of preparation:
- Prepare the eggplants, cut them into cubes and hold for half an hour in salted water, then rinse and dry.
- Dice zucchini.
- Boil the tomatoes and clean them. Pulp cut into cubes.
- Wash peppers. Cut the stalk. After removing the seeds, cut the peppers into squares.
- Crush garlic with a press.
- Chop greens with a knife.
- In a frying pan, individually fry for 5 minutes first eggplants, then zucchini, then sweet pepper. Add the tomatoes to the pepper and fry them with it for another 5 minutes.
- Fold all roasted vegetables in a cauldron. Add the beans to them. Pour in a glass of water. Stew on low heat for about 30 minutes.
- Add chopped greens, salt, pepper, garlic, mix. After a couple of minutes, remove from heat.
Before serving, sprinkle stew with eggplants and chopped beans with grated cheese - it will give it a unique taste.
Vegetable stew can be cooked in a slow cooker. In this case, the program “Frying” or “Baking” is selected for frying, continue cooking in the quenching mode. After the unit is completed, the stew is left for another 10-15 minutes in heating mode.
Vegetable stew with eggplants is quite a satisfying, but not too high-calorie dish, especially if you cook it without first frying food. Knowing a few secrets, even an aspiring cook will be able to cook it.
