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Who doesn’t love blue ones – as eggplants are affectionately called in the south. How many delicious things can be prepared from them! One dish of imambayalda is worth it. The imam will not faint just like that. The trouble is that the season for consuming fresh eggplants is not very long - only 3-4 months. And I really want to enjoy this vegetable in winter. To extend the period of its consumption, you can make preparations for the winter. But first, let’s figure out what eggplant is good for and how it affects health.
Benefits of eggplant
Eggplant cannot boast of a large number of vitamins in its composition. A little, only about 5% vitamin C, a small amount of B vitamins, retinol, a little niacin and vitamin E, folic acid. The main benefit of eggplants is different - they contain a lot of microelements, including potassium, as well as fiber. And this is with a low calorie content, only 23 kilocalories per 100 g. This vegetable is useful for intestinal diseases, improves heart function, and helps cope with atherosclerosis. And, of course, it is suitable for those who want to lose weight.
How to choose the right eggplant
In order for eggplants to bring only benefits, you need to choose them correctly.
Therefore, only young fruits at the stage of technical maturity need to be prepared. It is easy to distinguish them by their bright, rich color and light green stalk. The fruits should be firm and of medium size.
When a good and high-quality vegetable has been selected, you can begin to prepare it. Many people love fried eggplants, but with this method of cooking, all the beneficial properties of the vegetable are lost. To preserve them, the vegetable should be steamed or baked. Baked eggplants can also be used to make winter preparations, such as caviar. Baked eggplant caviar will preserve all the beneficial properties of this valuable vegetable for the winter.
How to make caviar from baked eggplants
This recipe has several variations. Let's look at each separately.
Recipe 1
The recipe is simple, but requires a lot of time to prepare. Usually a completely finished product can be obtained in 3.5-4 hours. For caviar you will need the following products:
- 2 kg of eggplants;
- 1.5 kg of red tomatoes;
- 1 kg red bell pepper;
- 600 g onions;
- 700 g carrots;
- 3 capsicums. If spicy dishes are contraindicated for you, then you can do without them;
- vegetable oil – no more than 180 ml;
- salt, which is added to taste.
Yield: 4 jars of 700 g each.
Cooking steps with photos:
All vegetables should be washed well in running water. There is no need to cut off the stems of eggplants. Peel the onions and carrots and wash them again. We remove the stems and seeds from the peppers and wash them again.
To prepare caviar according to this recipe, eggplants are baked. Place a dry baking sheet with eggplants in an oven heated to 200 degrees.
Baking time is about 40 minutes.To ensure even baking, turn the blue ones over several times.
While the eggplants are cooking, let's move on to other vegetables. The onion needs to be cut into small cubes.
Grate the carrots or cut into thin cubes.
We also cut tomatoes into cubes, like sweet peppers.
Remove the finished eggplants from the oven and cool slightly.
Now we cut each eggplant lengthwise into four parts, without cutting a little to the end, and place it vertically in a colander.
In a thick-walled bowl, sauté the onion, adding vegetable oil. The onion should not be browned. Add the carrots and simmer, covered, until the carrots become soft. This usually happens within 15 minutes.
Now add the tomatoes and simmer, now without a lid, until they become soft. Stir the vegetable mixture from time to time.
Add sweet pepper to the vegetable mixture, simmer for another quarter of an hour under the lid until the pepper is soft.
While the vegetable mixture is stewing, chop the peeled eggplants using a knife or meat grinder and add them to the prepared vegetables. The mixture must be mixed well and simmered under the lid for an hour. Add salt and chopped capsicum at the end of stewing.
We wash the glass jars well, dry them and fry them in the oven. The lids need to be washed and boiled.
As soon as the caviar is ready, it is immediately put into jars and rolled up. The jars are wrapped in newspapers and a blanket for a couple of days.
Recipe 2
This recipe differs from the previous one in that very little vegetable oil is added to the caviar.Consequently, caviar from baked eggplant will be less caloric. The peculiarity of this recipe is that all vegetables, except onions, are baked first, which allows them to preserve their taste and benefits.
To prepare caviar you will need:
- 6 medium sized eggplants;
- 2 large sweet peppers;
- 10 small tomatoes;
- 2 onions;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- a bunch of your favorite greens;
- pepper and non-iodized salt to taste.
Cooking steps with photos
- Wash eggplants, peppers and tomatoes. Lightly prick them and put them in the oven, placing them on a dry baking sheet. Oven temperature is about 200 degrees. Baking time is approximately 40 minutes. Vegetables need to be turned several times to ensure better baking. Bake until the eggplants are soft.
- While the vegetables are baking, sauté the onion, cut into small cubes, adding all the vegetable oil.
- Remove the prepared vegetables from the oven and cool slightly. It's easiest to peel vegetables while they're warm.
- Peeled vegetables should be finely chopped. Further preparation depends on whether the caviar will be served immediately or will be stored for the winter.
- In the first case, it is enough to mix the ingredients, add salt, pepper, finely chopped herbs and garlic passed through a garlic press. Next, according to the recipe, the caviar should stand in the refrigerator for several hours so that the vegetables are well soaked in the garlic. This caviar is especially tasty with croutons made from white or black bread.
- If you plan to prepare for the winter, the mixed vegetables should be simmered under a lid over low heat for about half an hour. Stir occasionally. Add pepper and salt, finely chopped herbs, season with garlic pressed through a press. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes and immediately put into sterile jars.The lids must also be sterilized. Roll up immediately. Turn over and wrap with a blanket for a day. Eggplant caviar from baked vegetables is ready.
Conclusion
Vegetables prepared for the winter not only diversify the menu, but also enrich it with useful substances.
