Asian-Inspired Eggplant (and Chicken!)

Serves 4-6 people

I modified a vegetarian (and spicy) Wegmans recipe by adding a bit of chicken and changing the sauce. This recipe allowed us to reduce the amount of meat we consume at dinner time. The eggplant was surprisingly good and quite filling.

Ingredients:

* 1 eggplant

* 2 or 3 cups of your favorite stir-fry vegetables. 
I used strips of red peppers, onions, and mushroom. I also added very thin carrots sticks and sliced squash.

* 1 lb. of chicken cut in small chunks (or another eggplant if you wish to keep this a vegetarian dish).

For the sauce:

Stir Fry Sauce

General Tso’s Sauce

Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce

Soy sauce

To make the sauce:

Fill 2/3 cup of equal parts of stir-fry sauce and General Tso’s sauce.  I used the Wegmans brand. I also added a few drops of soy sauce and, to add a kick, 1/2 teaspoon of Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce. You can add more chili garlic sauce if you like spicy food

Directions:

1. Cut the eggplant in slices and then in sticks - about half an inch thick. Place these sticks and the squash in a steamer or use a microwave bag to cook them.   

Optional: You may choose to fry the eggplant and the squash with the rest of the vegetables instead. Take a look at the next step.

2. Stir fry the vegetables in a wok or frying pan (and if you wish, you may fry the eggplant as squash as well instead of steaming them).

Suggestion: Fry the carrots, peppers, and onions first. Then, add the softer veggies, such as mushrooms (and the eggplant and squash if you don’t want to steam them).

3. Remove the vegetables from the wok and cook the chicken well. Then, add the vegetables and the sauce to taste.

Hint: Don’t add too much sauce. You don’t want to mask the taste of the veggies.

That’s it.

I served my eggplant and chicken dish with white rice. Delicious!