I just bought an aubergine

[SouthWestmom]

Really fancied eating it. Now what?
I'm vegetarian. In the house I have oil tomatoes onions ('mushrooms but I hate them) cheese etc.

What do I do with it...

tastes good!

I've just googled whether to see if it really is a fruit. Not becauseI didn't belive you onyk but I didn't belive you

Apparently so are squashes, peas, olives, courgettes, peppers... It makes sense actually, seeds innit.

Every day is a school day eh.

Obviously I got a bit overexcited there... To see whether

You could make the vegducken

Wow, all those are fruits? I thought peas were legumes? (Bear in mind I pretty much aubergine unaware until this afternoon)

Vegducken? I'm not sure that's a thing

Thank you to everyone though, the theres loads of good ideas, I need to save the thread somehow.

Soz Afishcalledchips but it's a pet unrational hate of mine. If it's produced from the flower of a plant, it's a fruit.
Such a shame that very few teachers know that (TA here!)

Noeuf pea plants are legumes, but peas are the seeds found in the pea-pod fruit!

This is one of the more useful threads I've started on here. I feel I should be taking notes

So what other fruits and vegetables haven't you tried yet Noeuf? What is going to be your next step into the uncharted wilds of the vegetable aisle?

Did you know that you can buy different varieties of aubergines too, including small/baby/pea and white varieties, hence eggplant?!

The vegducken!

Ok embarrassingly for a vegetarian I have a few uncharted fruit/veg/legumes:

(Btw vegducken is sadly let down by the mushroom content according to that recipe.)

Artichoke. Had one baked about twenty four years ago in Italy. That's it.
No idea what to do with most vegetables that aren't carrots, peas, sweetcorn, manage tout or tomatoes . Can roast peppers and tomatoes and baby potatoes at the same time.

Oh and in Italy there were some amazing leaves from a vegetable but I can't remember more than that.

No it was flowers. Zucchini. Just googled vegetable leaves.

You can steam it, I only learnt this fairly recently. If you steam it for 10 minutes it goes lovely and soft.

I also like cutting it into wedges, drizzling with oil, onto a baking sheet and into the oven for about 30 mins until the edges go crispy. (Probably 200/g mark 6.) Drown in soy sauce. Shove into face.

Ooh and this too - time consuming, and not healthy considering the oil, but so delicious - www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/aubergine-katsu-curry

There's a quote that goes something like "knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad". - this thread made me think of that.

I've though of (yet) another thing that aubergine is good for, it's a Hugh Fernley Whatsit recipe for 'vegegree'. It's really easy.
(Serves 4)

1 Aubergine (sliced into strips about 4cmx2cm or something)
2 Courgette (same)
2 Onions (cut into thin wedges)

Bung into baking dish, add about 3tsp of curry powder (mild or med) drizzle with oil and give it a stir.

Roast for 30-40mins

Boil rice (2 mugs?) + soft boil about 4 eggs.

Mix rice with roast stuff. Serve sliced boiled eggs on top.

knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad".

But strawberries, which are not a berry are lovely thrown in a salad with some balsamic

Love that quote!
The recipes are brilliant. Who knew shiny purple fruit could be so versatile? Although having read about baby aubergine I must remember not to confuse them with grapes.

Sweet tomato and aubergine rigatoni - even my kids love this!

I would look up a recipe for Vegetarian moussaka

Noeuf Oh yes! courgette flowers are fab, stuffed with cheese and made into fritters they are heaven on a plate, and I had them once stuffed with a fish mousse which was lovely.
I always think artichokes (a flower!) are a lot of effort for not much reward. The best thing about them is that you can eat plenty of mayonnaise.
Have you tried Romanesco cauliflower? I love their colour and shape.

Another idea for aubergines is to slice lengthways, chop out a cavity, fill with a rice/veg mixture add some cheese and a little vegetable stock, and bake. A good way of using small amounts of leftovers.

Make this aubergine curry: meerasodha.com/aubergine-and-pea-curry/ doesn't look like much but it tastes delicious! You can even be super-lazy and serve it with ready made naan bread if you don't feel like cooking rice. Serve with mango chutney and eat in front of the telly for a lazy friday night dinner.

Sweet and sour aubergine. The best kind of Chinese food (authentic) that there is.

Oh this is really exciting! I love the pasta rigatoni idea, I think the children might eat that.
The curry I might suggest to Dh - he instead veggie but loves cooking curry and it would make a change from quorn. He can cook the rice too. ...

Try looking up some Yottam Ottolenghi recipies or better still get hold of his books Plenty & Plenty more loads of fab recipies for vegetables