Eggplant is a vegetable that is very versatile. You can add it to so many dishes or have it by itself, it’s delicious either way. Because it’s not an every day vegetable to most people here’s a tip on how to pick a good one. Hold the eggplant in your palm and gently press it with your thumb. If the flesh presses in but bounces back, it’s ripe and ready to use. If the flesh is hard and does not give, the eggplant is not ripe enough to use, so it may need to sit for a few days. There are numerous varieties of eggplants, usually the oval shaped ones are meatier and have less seeds, so go for those! Nutritionally they are a good source of fiber, folate, potassium, magnesium, and manganese.

Try our Herbed Baby Eggplant recipe.