Eggplant: calories, useful properties, cooking methods

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Now it is difficult to imagine your diet without eggplant, but until the 19th century this plant was not represented at all in Russia. India is considered the birthplace of the “blue ones”, where the culture can still grow in the wild to this day, but they were brought to us from Turkey. And the most interesting, perhaps, is that eggplant is a berry. Today, a considerable number of plant varieties have been bred, its fruits can already have not only a dark purple color, but also light, green and even white.

Chemical composition

A raw eggplant has only 24 calories, which is a negative number.

This means that the body will need to expend more energy to digest the product than the eggplant itself contains. It contains for every 100 grams:

• 0, 1g fat;
• 7, 1g carbs;
• 1, 2 g protein.

The benefits of the berry are determined not only by diet, but also by the high content of nutrients. Magnesium, sodium, calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus andcob alt in eggplant. How many vitamins are in the product? A little, actually. The berry contains carotene, vitamins PP, C, B and B2. The main benefit is fiber, which is found in eggplant in large quantities. It quickly and permanently saturates the body without leaving a feeling of heaviness.

Of course, the fruit cannot be eaten raw, but there are many ways to cook eggplant, according to which you can also keep their low calorie content.

Product benefits

In addition to the fact that the "little blue" is able to positively affect the body simply when eaten, it can also be used as a folk remedy for many diseases.

Thus, the peel of the berry can whiten teeth, its juice can be used as an antiseptic for wounds and burns and in cosmetology as a rejuvenating agent. The nicotinic acid present in eggplant contributes to the early cessation of smoking. Regular consumption of the fruit itself is an excellent prophylactic against gout, anemia, cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis, and kidney and liver ailments. Also, the product helps to increase the level of hemoglobin, improve hematopoiesis and the functioning of the spleen.

The low calorie content of eggplant and their diuretic effect help many people lose weight.

Steamed eggplant

This method of preparing berries is ideal for losing weight, because it is their calorie content that is the lowest. When using only eggplant and water 100 g dishwill contain a little more than 40 kcal. The benefits of eggplant for the human body are fully preserved, since the product does not lose its properties at all after heat treatment. If desired, you can use a little vegetable oil to stew the "blue" ones, but this will increase the calorie content of the final dish.

You can cut the fruit for cooking at your own discretion. After chopping it, transfer the eggplant to a frying pan or saucepan, pour a little water, s alt and spices into it and leave to simmer over low heat for 0.5-1 hour, depending on the size of the cut. In this case, the calorie content of eggplant will be 45 Kcal.

For variety, you can add carrots, onions, sweet peppers and tomatoes to the dish, but the number of calories will be higher.

Overseas caviar

Eggplant caviar can be prepared directly for consumption or for preservation. The calorie content of the final product will be different, since a large amount of oil and vinegar is needed for clogging.

To eat fresh caviar, you need to fry onions, add carrots to it, after a while eggplants, sweet peppers and tomatoes. All products must be cut equally. At the end of cooking, the dish is s alted and peppered. Sugar, herbs and other spices are added to taste. The whole stewing process will take about 40 minutes. The calorie content will be 50-90 Kcal.

A similar eggplant dish for harvesting for the winter is prepared in the same way,but with the addition of a large amount of oil and vinegar. Instead of the latter, you can use another acid. The calorie content of a serving of 100 g will be already 150 Kcal.

Baked eggplant

There are several ways to prepare this dish, and the energy value of the final product will depend on them. The classic recipe involves the following steps:

1. Wash the eggplant and cut into slices.
2. Spread each side with vegetable oil, s alt, spices and garlic.
3. Spread on a baking sheet in 1 layer and put in the oven.
4. Bake 15-25 minutes, sprinkle with fresh herbs before serving.

If desired, "blue ones" can be stuffed, but their nutritional value will increase and will be already above 65 Kcal, as in the previous version. So, for cooking, it is necessary to cut the berry in half and remove the pulp from both parts, leaving 1 cm on the peel. The resulting forms must be baked for 20 minutes, and the filling should be prepared from the removed pulp. To do this, it is crushed, mixed with chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, herbs and garlic and stewed in a pan for 20 minutes. You can also add low-fat minced meat here. Baked eggplant from the oven is filled with stuffing, poured with cream and sprinkled with grated cheese, and then sent back to the oven for another half hour. Calorie content of the finished dish 83 Kcal.

Fried "blue"

This cooking method is the most "heavy" in the dietary sense. How many calories are in fried eggplant? The energy value for thisthe form of processing is a minimum of 90 kcal, and this is only if the product is soaked in water for 30 minutes immediately before frying.

This procedure allows you to reduce the absorption of oil by eggplant. If you use batter for frying or supplement the finished dish with other products, then the calorie content can already be about 140 Kcal.

So, you can cook "little blue" as follows:

1. Cut the eggplant into rings or slices as desired, but at least 0.5 cm thick.
2. Soak the plates, then rinse, s alt and fry. If the pan is non-stick, then you can not use vegetable oil.
3. In a separate bowl, mix chopped garlic and mayonnaise.
4. Grease the prepared eggplant rings with the prepared sauce and cover with a circle of tomato.
5. If desired, you can add a little grated cheese on top and put the already prepared dish in the oven for baking for 10 minutes. It takes time for the cheese to melt.
6. Sprinkle with herbs when serving.

Marinated product

You can cook eggplants by simply marinating them. To do this, cut the berry into cubes and throw it into boiling s alted and acidified water. The product is boiled for 5 minutes, after which the cubes need to drain and cool in a colander. They are mixed with chopped garlic, vegetable oil and put in jars. The dish is stored for 2 weeks in the refrigerator, and its calorie content is 63 Kcal. If desired, you can add vinegar to the recipe and make the preparation for morelong term.

You can also cook the "Korean" version of eggplant directly to the table. To do this, sweet peppers, carrots, eggplants, spices, s alt, garlic and vegetable oil are mixed. The nutritional value in this case will be 109 kcal.

Expert Tips

To reduce the calorie content of eggplant, you should follow some tricks. First of all, you need to choose the right product. Only fruits of medium ripeness with a bright green stalk are suitable for food. At the same time, the eggplant itself should be heavy and fleshy.

After cutting the berries, sprinkle them with lemon juice or vinegar to stop the browning, and rubbing with s alt or soaking the product in s alt water will help get rid of the bitter taste. Soaking, by the way, helps to reduce the amount of absorbed fat, and therefore reduce the calorie content of the finished eggplant dish. You can reduce the energy value by dipping the berry in egg white before frying.

Before using this product, remember that eggplant is contraindicated for people with gastritis, peptic ulcer and pancreatic problems.