Persian-Italian Eggplant Stew - Recipe (Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-Free)

Persian-Italian Eggplant Stew

Yes, I said Persian-Italian. Bear with me here for a second. I was looking for some sort of moist eggplant dish to serve with Persian rice (a wonderful basmati pilaf with a crunchy crust; I'll tell you about that soon). I came across several recipes for a Persian dish named Fesenjan-e Bademjan, which is eggplant braised in a sauce of walnuts, pomegranate, and honey.

This sounded amazing, but I had two problems: I had no pomegranate molasses in the house, and I can't serve walnuts. I scanned my pantry for something that might replace the pomegranate, and hit upon mosto cotto (aka saba), which is the cookedgrape must that would become balsamic vinegar if it was aged.

Mosto cotto is fruity, sweet and sour in a way very comparable to the pomegranate molasses. So I decided to roll with it and reimagine the dish as if it were cooked by a Persian traveling on a trade route through Italy in the 10th century. (I have an active imagination). The sweet / sour / spiced flavors seem almost medieval.

As for the walnuts, I figured that their main purpose was to thicken and enrich the sauce. I substituted roasted, unsweetened sunflower seed butter. But if you have walnut butter or can toast and grind whole ones, I'm sure that would be great.

You'll notice I don't salt and drain the eggplants. Some people feel this is essential to remove bitterness. To me, it just makes them wet so they don't brown well. I don't find them particularly bitter. 

Persian-Italian Eggplant Stew
Vegetarian, vegan (if you replace the honey with say agave nectar), and gluten-free
Serves 4

3 medium or 2 large eggplant (I used normal Western style eggplants)1/2 cup olive oil1 onion, finely diced2 cloves garlic, minced2 teaspoons ground cumin1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)several grinds fresh black pepper2 tablespoons mosto cotto (saba)2 tablespoons honey (replace if you want vegan)2 tablespoons red wine vinegar2 tablespoons roasted, unsweeted sunflower butter (or see above)2 cups watersalthandful parsley leaves2 teaspoons sumac powderTrim the eggplants and cut them in quarters, lengthwise. In a large skillet, heat the oil over a medium high-flame. Fry the eggplant on all sides until well seared and golden brown. Remove to paper towels and season with salt.Leaving the remaining oil in the pan, reduce the heat to medium and fry the onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and black pepper and cook for one more minute. Add the mosto cotto, honey, red wine vinegar, and sunflower butter. The sunflower butter will be a lump at first, but once it heats up you can whisk it in easily.Simmer for a few minutes and then season with salt as needed. Cut the cooled eggplant into bite sized pieces and add back to the sauce. Reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cook until the eggplant is fully tender and the sauce thickened, about 10 minutes.Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, cayenne, or vinegar as needed to achieve a complex mixture of spices, sweet, and sour.Garnish with parsley leaves and sumac and serve. Find related articles in: Gluten-Free or modifiable

As a prospective vegan, you may be wondering exactly why vegans make the dietary choices they make. And you may also be hesitant to adopt these choices until you yourself understand and accept them.

As a prospective vegan, you may be wondering exactly why vegans make the dietary choices they make. And you may also be hesitant to adopt these choices until you yourself understand and accept them.



In this article, I will explain the two major vegetarian positions on eating eggs to help you make your decision.



The sub-category of vegetarian I will cover, ovo-vegetarians, accept the normal consumption of eggs because they do not believe that doing so conflicts with an ethical vegetarian diet. They do not see eggs as living things and subsequently do not make the connection between consuming eggs and causing animal suffering or death.



In addition to this, many ovo-vegetarians see complete veganism as limiting their options unnecessarily, especially when eggs are an excellent source of complete protein and a viable nutritional alternative to meat.



Many vegetarians who do consume eggs opt for "free range" eggs over normal--or "battery"--eggs. This is usually out of ethical concern for the treatment of egg-laying hens.



Vegans, by contrast, do not consume eggs normally and generally oppose the institution altogether. They argue that purchasing "battery hen" eggs supports an institution that cages up to nine birds together, debeaks them, and forces them to continually lay eggs until they are calcium -depleted and on the verge of death--at which point, they are slaughtered.



In addition, vegans also go further to disapprove of "free range" eggs, which do not require a hen to be caged. They argue that most free range hens are actually packed into houses, where they have minimal access to the outside.



They also note that even producing "free range" eggs requires having fertile eggs--half of which will hatch into male chicks, which will then be slaughtered after birth or fed to a certain weight only to be culled.



In addition to these two positions, there are also vegetarians who don't consume eggs for other reasons. Some of these vegetarians don't eat eggs because they are high in cholesterol; and others do not consume them because they believe that the animal farming institution contributes to environmental degradation.



Take some time to determine where you stand--ethically and nutritionally--and then make your decision from there.

Do you have a strict vegan in the family who has a birthday or celebration coming up that traditionally calls for cake? If you"re not familiar with vegan dietary practices, you might not know what vegans do not eat. Even worse, you might have no idea how to replace what they do not eat.

Do you have a strict vegan in the family who has a birthday or celebration coming up that traditionally calls for cake? If you"re not familiar with vegan dietary practices, you might not know what vegans do not eat. Even worse, you might have no idea how to replace what they do not eat.



But don't worry. In a few short paragraphs, I"ll explain exactly what you need to make the perfect cake for your vegan friend or relative. And best of all, no one will be able to taste the difference.



Let's start with what strict vegans do not eat. They do not eat eggs. They do not drink milk. They don't eat certain types of sugar. They don't eat butter. And they don't eat frosting.



Eggs can be replaced by "EnerG Egg Replacer," which you can purchase at many grocery stores. The box will explain how much replacer to use per egg.



Cow's milk can be replaced by organic rice milk, which doesn't contain any animal byproducts. You can buy rice milk at your local grocery store, too.



Many vegans do not consume sugar, either, because it is often whitened by animal bone char. You can avoid sugar that is whitened by bone char by purchasing "unbleached" sugar, sugar in the raw, or beet sugar. There are some cane sugars, too, which were not whitened using bone char, but they hard to distinguish from others, unless you know the exact name brand.



Strict vegans will not eat food made with butter, either. If your cake recipe calls for butter, you can simply replace it with margarine or vegetable shortening.



In addition to butter, sugar, milk, and eggs, strict vegans also will not eat dairy frosting. If your recipe calls for frosting, you can look for a similar flavor of "non-dairy" frosting or you can make your own, replacing butter with margarine.



And there you have it: an ingredient replacement key for your vegan cake. Simply follow the key, replace vegan -unfriendly items on your recipe, and your cake will be perfectly fit for even the strictest vegetarian!

Many people start vegetarian and vegan diets without devoting an adequate amount of time to nutritional research and meal planning. As a result, a considerable amount of people who start vegetarian diets do not last for more than 1-2 months.

Many people start vegetarian and vegan diets without devoting an adequate amount of time to nutritional research and meal planning. As a result, a considerable amount of people who start vegetarian diets do not last for more than 1-2 months.



Many dieters who fail to carefully research and plan complain that they lack energy - and often experience a significant loss in muscle mass. Others observe a number of other more peripheral problems that come with a poorly-planned vegetarian diet.



The first group--the group that most failed dieters fall into--is actually experiencing a form of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM). PEM emerges when a person fails to consume enough protein, leading to muscle loss - and subsequently feelings of weakness that are often accompanied by head and muscle aches.



This problem can be circumvented by dietary alterations. A vegetarian who is experiencing PEM should either a) find out what foods contain what amino chains, so they can combine them to form proteins; or b) start consuming larger amounts and more diversified sources of protein, such as nuts, soy milk, and yogurt.



The first group is often iron-deficient as well. Because vegetarians can only consume nonheme iron, which is more sensitive to iron inhibitors, they often do not consume enough to maintain healthy blood-iron levels. This can cause pervasive weakness and even anemia.



Most nutritionists suggest that vegetarian and vegan dieters consume roughly twice the recommended amount of iron while greatly reducing their consumption of iron inhibitors.



People in the second group--the smaller one--who suffer from a range of other peripheral, diet-related problems are often not consuming enough of the nutrients that they would normally take in unknowingly on a diet that includes meat and dairy products. These nutrients include, for example, zinc, calcium, vitamin b, and riboflavin.



Some recent studies have suggested that vegetarians also process certain types of foods with less efficiency because they consume different amounts and varieties of absorption inhibitors and enhancers.



Recent studies also suggest, however, that a vegetarian or vegan diet, when done right, is not only as healthful as a non-vegetarian diet, but it is also much more heart-healthy - and usually contains higher amounts of antioxidants.



What does this all mean for you as a prospective vegetarian? It means that eating a healthful vegetarian diet is not only a good alternative to your current diet, but it can also lower your chances of getting heart disease and cancer.



However, in order to eat a HEALTHFUL vegetarian diet, you must actually put in the time to research and plan; if you don't, you most certainly will end up in one of the two groups discussed above.