Spicy Eggplant Bowl

Last week I bought an eggplant with the intent of making some veggie burgers. However, the unusually cold weather we have been suffering here in Texas had me craving something warm and spicy for dinner tonight. So, instead of veggie burgers I made some spicy eggplant. It is absolutely delicious and can be eaten hot or cold.

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 vine ripened tomato
• 1 cup white onion
• 1/2 cup chives chopped
• 1/3 cup garlic chopped
• 1 cup cilantro chopped
• 1 tbsp dried red pepper
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 4 cups vegetable/chicken stock
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp hot sauce

Prep: Dice eggplant into small pieces and finely chop tomatoes; onions; garlic; chives and cilantro. I personally use my handy Black and Decker electric chopper pictured above to save on time.

Directions: In a medium saucepan saute eggplant, garlic, onions and chives for 3-4 minutes in olive oil. The eggplant should start looking brown and saturated. Add a teaspoon of brown sugar and stir until the sugar is evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Direction cont'd below...

Next add vegetable or chicken stock to the mixture. Add cilantro, hot sauce, rice wine vinegar, and dried red peppers and let simmer as seen in the picture above. Let thicken on medium heat for 11-15 minutes. Serve hot with a handful of cilantro to offset some of the spiciness.