Eggplant from Spain - my own recipe based on healthy ideas

I would say the broad classifications of the typical dishes you might find in Spanish cooking are as follows:

• Spanish rice based recipes, usually with beans
• Spanish wheat based dished, in the form of a flat bread
• Spanish corn based meals
• Pure vegetable based dishes, like eggplant

What is my favorite Spanish food? I think that most people think of Spanish fast food as tacos and nachos. However, if you have any exposure to Spanish culture been known that Spanish cuisine is not restricted to a few dishes you might find on an American menu.

Let’s think about how Hispanic cuisine has fused with indigenous cultures. The realm of the Spanish world, includes South America, North America, the Caribbean islands, the Philippines, Europe, and I am sure a few other places.

Each place Spanish culture fuses with a local culture something totally different occurs in the kitchen. Think of it this way one plus one does not equal two but equal three. That means a combination of Spanish and Caribbean cooking results in something that is something completely different.

I tend to like less spicy vegetable based Spanish cooking. I particularly like eggplant dishes. And when was the last time you saw a Hispanic eggplant dish on a menu at taco bell. This is why I decided to write this post. I wanted to give you a Spanish eggplant recipe that is not common.

Spanish eggplant recipe

Ingredients for my eggplant recipe

• 1 large purple eggplant
• 5 cloves of garlic (I use pink garlic not Chinese white garlic). Garlic is my staple for health so use as much as you like, I chop very fine, or crush.
• 1/4 large yellow of onions
• 2  small red chilli peppers cut very small
• oregano (one of the worlds best anti-oxidants so use as much as you like it gives it a mediterranean taste)
• fresh basil
• fresh parsley
• Olive oil (it does not have to be Spanish) and a pinch of butter, I am not giving an exact quantity because it depends how you cook, heavy or light.
• a pinch or two or pepper
• sea salt for preparing the Spanish eggplant but not for seasoning as it will have enough residual salt.
• Cheese for the top of the eggplant from Spain dish – type and quantity will be up to you.

Eggplant from Spain – how to prepare

1. Peel and cut the eggplant, place it on a dish or on a cutting board and cover it in salt on both sides.  Wait ten minutes to 1/2 hour. Basically what you want to do is soak the eggplant in salt and then rinse it well in water so it is not too salty.  This takes the bitterness out of the eggplant. I slice the eggplant into thin slices. The I cut it in small pieces before I add it to the pan.
2. Into the pan – I do not like the idea of a soupy mix, rather, when all the ingredients are added to a pan for saute I like to keep some order. I add the stronger vegetables first like onions and garlic and soften these, then tomato base second, then the vegetables (in this case eggplant) and seasoning.  If you do not understand how to cook this write me, it is basically.
3. Next I take the take the handle off my black iron skillet and with cheese on top I put it in the over to bake.

The result is something like eggplant Parmesan but without the flouring and frying part and a little more spice The other key part of this is your choice in cheese.  Parmesan cheese is very Italian. Choose some Spanish cheese, or stinky hard round cheese. The idea is this will gently melt of the dish. Another thing is you do not want too much tomato, it should be thick not a watery mess.

Serve this with warmed garlic bread and red wine.  Spanish eggplant is very healthy as my recipes is loaded with anti-oxidants. It’s a warming food, best eaten with someone who will eat it with you as you might have garlic breath. Let me know what you think of my own version of a Madrid style eggplant recipe.

Really all the vegetables that come from the Latin world like Tomatoes, peppers and tomatoes were not in Europe until Columbus.  Many European countries consider them their own. However, it is not true, this were Native American and then Hispanic vegetables.

Types of Hispanic vegetables

Other Hispanic vegetables include:

• yucca
• chayhotes
• squash
• chiles
• quelites
• nopales
• jicama
• tender cactus
• tomatillos
• peas
• hearts of palm
• artichokes
• Olives
• asparagus
• Jalapeno
• Poblano

The Spanish world is also home of green salad, because it is sunny and easy to grow.

Artichokes are considered Hispanic vegetables

La Preferida and Goya are two large Hispanic vegetable companies also Vigos and Kuners.  I would love to buy stock in Goya but it is a private company.

I have a cooking blog also and today I wrote about Mexican porgies believe it or not. I am into trying to take Spanish food and vegetables and mixing it with other cuisines.  I have not gotten any complaints.  I think like to try exotic things.  Anything from Latin America is considered spicy and exotic in my mind.

Corn and beans as the Hispanic vegetable

I do not know if these are really vegetables or simply proteins but  Corn is high in the Amino acid Arginine  beans have Lysine they balance each other out and make a complete protein.

From this you can make almost anything, including pastes or main dishes.

Food from Spain in Europe

Since I’m living in Europe, and the winters are quite cold here we get most of our winter vegetables from Spain.  Spain has a longer growing season than where I am and eastern Europe.  In the early spring we get Spanish vegetables that are only available in the summer.

The problem and is vegetables from Spain are relatively expensive if they are exotic.  However the ordinary ones such as tomatoes and potatoes are relatively cheap.  The big competitor to Spanish fashion bowls in Europe is a delay.

Italian fashion polls have a different taste because of the volcanic soil.  The vegetables grown in central Spain around Madrid on the other hand have the more exotic nature.

Why I do not eat Mexican vegetables

When you’re talking about Hispanic vegetables in America you’re really talking about vegetables from Mexico and Peurto Rico.  The problem is I have greater trust in Spanish agriculture than I do in Mexican farming.  Not that there’s anything wrong with Mexico, rather a large American food companies get their hands in the corporate farming in Mexico and I question the level of pesticides and chemicals they use in the food.  In contrast in Spain I think it’s more natural as the EU has tighter regulations on produce.

If anyone has any more information to convey about Hispanic vegetables please let me know, I want to build this post up a little more.