Eggplant in Hoisin Sauce - Easy

I got several days of exercise today.  We purchases around 20 bushes (including one in a 5 gallon tub) a while back. But due to rainy weather, we had been unable to plant them until today.

Cujo, after romp around the block
So in between tearing around the neighborhood trying to wrangle the dog back home (my fault, I opened the front door unnecessarily wide to ask theHubby a question), we planted around 20 bushes (including one in a 5 gallon tub).

I am bushed!

So dinner had to be way easy.  Spaghetti with Very Fast Pasta Sauce, not quite as easy as dumping jarred sauce on the spaghetti though, because I felt a little guilty for not making  the "real sauce" I was originally planning.

While rooting through the fridge to find the chopped garlic in oil (why is it that what you want is always hiding behind something else?) I noticed a small bag of eggplants.  These weren't the standard large eggplants sold at the local Try-N-Save.  They weren't even those cute light purple eggplants I bought at last month's farmer's market.  No, these were fingerling eggplants I got at this month's farmer's market.  Never even heard of them until I heard them calling me.














Aren't they adorable?   Since they were sitting in a plastic bag in the fridge for way too many days, they absolutely needed to be cooked or something like right now because, after all, I didn't want to waste the hard-earned 85 cents they cost me.

So I made a streamlined not-spicy version of Veggies in Hoisin Sauce.  Pretty tasty, and really really easy.  Interesting observation -- without all the extra spices and stuff, it tasted like cinnamon was added.  The bottle of hoisin sauce lists the very generic "spices" as part of its ingredients, so who knows?

Because I did add salt to help draw out the moisture and bitterness that eggplant tends to have, I recommend that only low-sodium soy sauce be used.  If you insist on using regular soy sauce, add a couple glasses of water on the side for the thirst that will result.

Eggplant in Hoisin Sauce
serves 2 as a side-dish

6 fingerling eggplants
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. olive oil
2 Tbl. hoisin sauce
1 Tbl. low-sodium soy sauce
 













Cut off the stem end of each eggplant, then slice each lengthwise.  Holding a few slices at a time, slice across to make small chunks.














Place chunks in small casserole dish.  Sprinkle evenly with salt and olive oil.














Cover, place in microwave and cook at full power for 3 minutes to soften them up a bit.














Uncover and mix in hoisin and soy sauces.  Cover and cook at full power for another 2 minutes, or until eggplant is completely softened.

Serve alongside your favorite entree.

Comments