Let's Play Hide the Eggplant

I have come a long way since my childhood days when it comes to the variety of vegetables that I eat. Really, there is nothing I won't try at least once, but there are certainly vegetables that are at the bottom of my list, this includes olives (which I'm not even sure are considered a vegetable, probably not), raw onions, and eggplant. Of the three, I actually eat quite a bit of eggplant and really enjoy it .... the secret is hiding the taste of the eggplant. I guess we do this with a lot of cooking, adding spices to add to the flavor, but in the case of eggplant, this step is a must. Many vegetables I am happy just to eat raw, steam, or saute in a little olive oil. Who does that with eggplant though? Maybe I am just a weirdo.

Last night I made a recipe that John has been begging to have for some time now, Eggplant Curry from the Best Ever Vegetarian Cookbook. I haven't made any dishes from this cookbook since going vegan, many of them include dairy or eggs. For the curry I used about half the amount of eggplant called for, used fresh tomatoes instead of canned, added more mushrooms and also threw in some red pepper that I needed to get rid of. I served it over quinoa with steamed kale on the side, which went together quite nicely. This didn't really taste like a curry to me, it lacked any real heat, but we enjoyed it just the same. If I fix it again I will likely add more chili peppers or powder as well as some curry powder to kick it up a notch. And most important of all, I was successful in hiding the eggplant!