Miso-Glazed Eggplant

A while ago I read that people suffering with arthritis should limit the amount of vegetables from the nightshade family they eat to help reduce inflammation. What vegetables are part of the nightshade family? Tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers and eggplants are a few of the better known ones. And ones that I am reluctant to give up.

When I thought about this theory a bit more, I realized that I really didn’t suffer any more than usual after eating any of the nightshade vegetables, so I did some investigation. I think that there are articles that both prove and disprove the idea of these plants causing inflammation, but I stopped when I found this one: 4 Myths About Nightshade Vegetables, because I liked the way it offered proof against all the misconceptions and made it okay for me to eat tomatoes and potatoes without worrying about any ill effects on my knees.

So now that it’s okay to eat nightshade vegetables, I decided to give this eggplant recipe a try. It’s good, though next time I will either get more eggplants or cut back on the amount of the miso mixture I use.

Here’s what happened:

Got some Asian eggplants.

Asian eggplants.

Cut them in half lengthwise and prepared them for the oven.

Halved eggplants.

While the eggplants were broiling, got started on the miso glaze.

Miso.

Miso paste.

Added the ginger, vinegar, sugar and water.

Grated ginger, vinegar, water and sugar.

Mixed all the glaze ingredients together.

Mixed together.

Now what? Got some green onions…

Green onions.

…and sliced them.

Sliced green onions.

After 5 minutes, the eggplants were ready.

Ready for the miso glaze.

Coated the eggplants in the glaze.

Covered in miso glaze.

After 2 minutes the eggplants were done. They had the green onions sprinkled over and were served with rice.

Miso-Glazed Eggplant.

Here’s the recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Miso-Glazed-Eggplant-109748

Miso-Glazed Eggplant

Makes 6 side-dish servings
Active time: 15 min
Start to finish: 25 min

Ingredients

6 tablespoons shiro miso (white fermented soybean paste)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 1/2 tablespoons water
3 3/4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus additional for brushing pan
6 Asian eggplants (about 8 inches), halved lengthwise
2 scallions, finely chopped

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Whisk together shiro miso, vinegar, water, sugar, and ginger until sugar is dissolved.

Brush a large shallow baking pan with oil and arrange eggplant, cut sides up, in pan. Brush tops with 2 tablespoons oil (total). Broil eggplant 4 to 6 inches from heat until it begins to turn pale golden and soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Brush generously with miso mixture and broil 2 minutes more. Brush eggplant with miso again and rotate pan 180 degrees (do not turn eggplant over), then continue to broil until eggplant is tender and glaze is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve sprinkled with scallions.