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September 2014 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
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FOOD
BITES
@healthykentucky
POPULAR
PURPLE
PRODUCE IS
REALLY
A BERRY
By Tanya Tyler,
Staff Writer
Jazz musician
Michael Franks sings
a quirky song about
eggplant, which
includes the lines: “My baby cooks
her eggplant ’bout 19 different ways./
Sometimes I just have it raw with
mayonnaise.”
Indeed, eggplant (also known as
aubergine) is a very versatile product
that is used in a variety of ethnic
dishes, including Greek moussaka,
French ratatouille, Middle Eastern
baba ghanoush and Italian eggplant
parmesan. It is often baked, roasted,
broiled, mashed, grilled or diced with
other vegetables. With its unique,
spongy texture, eggplant makes a sat-
Eggplant is said
to help manage
diabetes and
promote heart
health.
Eggplant
isfying meat substitute.
Related to both the tomato and
the potato, eggplant is, botanically
speaking, technically a berry. It is in
the nightshade family, but it is not
poisonous, although at one time early
Europeans thought eggplant caused
insanity, cancer and leprosy because
of its bitter taste. Thankfully, as
new, less bitter-tasting varieties were
developed over the centuries (today
there ar HX