A break from holiday eating

This is the time of year when most of us indulge in things that we don’t normally have.  Richer entrees, extra snacks and lots of sweets.  As we get ready to gear up for fixing a special New Year’s Eve dinner with friends, I thought tonight we could use something lighter and healthier.  I know I’ve made this for my husband before but he doesn’t remember it.  He remembers it now because he loved it.  It’s a vegetarian entree that has so much flavor, you won’t miss the protein.  (My husband did point out that it would probably be good with chicken or lamb or shrimp added in but tonight we didn’t include any of those.)  Although the list of ingredients looks long, this curry really doesn’t take long to make.  It’s one of those recipes where having lots of little bowls really helps – have everything measured out in bowls ahead of time and it’s pretty quick to fix.

Eggplant curry

• 1 eggplant, skin cut off and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 TB yellow mustard seed
• 2 TB butter
• 2 TB olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 TB grated fresh ginger
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tomatoes, cored and chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 TB brown sugar
• 1 package baby spinach, washed and dried

Toss eggplant in a colander with kosher salt for about 20 minutes to draw out the water.  Dry with paper towels.

In a dry saute pan, heat mustard seed over medium heat, shaking the pan for about 3 – 4 minutes.  Put mustard seed in a glass bowl.

Melt 1 TB of butter with 1 TB of olive oil over medium heat.  Saute eggplant, stirring frequently until eggplant is browned (about 5 minutes.)  Add cooked eggplant to the bowl with the mustard seed.

Add remaining butter and olive oil to pan and saute onion over medium heat until soft.  Add garlic and ginger and saute about 1 minute, stirring.  Add all spices (it’s easiest if you have those all measured together in a glass bowl ahead of time) and stir to combine.  Add tomatoes, water and brown sugar and bring to a boil over high heat.  Add spinach and stir well so spinach mixes in and wilts. (about 2 minutes.)  Add eggplant back to curry mixture and cook, stirring about 2 minutes and then serve.  (This would also be good over rice.)

Eggplant and spinach curry