Delicious as a main dish or as a side.

So far, my NMM posts are protein sufficient; I mean, you can't really go wrong with tofu, chickpeas, and cheese, am I right? Well, today I thought I'd mix it up a bit. Today's recipe isn't the most protein packed but it's still sure as hell tasty.

If you're a fan of anything that's sweet, spicy, gingery, sesame-y, or anything that has an (east) Asian flare, boy do I have a treat for you. Since I have a couple of eggplants lying around, I figured I'd try making a Korean-inspired dish, well, at least according to the blog I got this recipe from. What's great about it is that it's quite quick to make and it's great either on its own or as a side dish. I ate this with fried tilapia (my source of protein) and it was a match made in heaven. The sauce was amazingggggg on rice- seriously, it just POPS. It could be a dipping sauce for anything, particularly tempura. It's soo good.

Eggplant with Sweet Sesame Ginger Sauce

(adapted from ItDoesntTasteLikeChicken.com)

Yield: 2-3 servings

1 T oil

1 medium red onion, sliced

2 medium eggplants, cut into strips

Sauce:

1/2 c water

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp brown sugar

2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch piece of ginger, minced

1 - 2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1. Mix all sauce ingredients in a bowl. set aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Saute onions until translucent or slightly softened. Add eggplant pieces and cook for a minute, just until the eggplant slices get slightly soft.

3. Pour in sauce and let simmer until the eggplant slices are fully tender. 

4. Season and adjust according to taste.

5. Serve warm.

NOTES

1. To make this vegetarian/vegan-friendly, add in your protein of choice, like pan fried tofu or chickpeas.

2. If you prefer a crunchier version, you can cook the eggplants (and other veggies like potatoes, sweet potatoes, or onion rings) tempura-style then just make the sauce. Don't forget to cook out the cornstarch or just leave it out completely for a thinner consistency.