Experience Premchit’s Recipe for Baked Purple Eggplant with Red Onions

Baked Purple Eggplant w Red Onion

The Hill Team enjoys spas as all of you know—Brenda and I have explored and written about many. I’ve have personally experienced numerous wellness retreats from Duke Diet & Fitness Center, Pritiken, to Fresh Start Wellness Center. Here is one worth discovering for yourself: EXPERIENCE | PREMCHIT. It is high on my own list.

Amy Lombard, Editor, Paradizo, Spain says it well:

Forget anything you’ve heard about a “spa resort” because here is the real deal. Designed around careful investigation and painstaking research, EXPERIENCE | PREMCHIT introduces a brand-new concept combining travel with a full, truly rejuvenating wellness retreat. As the world’s first self-actuated wellness retreat, EXPERIENCE | PREMCHIT offers a dedicated and unwavering attention to your lifelong wellbeing.

What better place to discover this gem than in Phuket, Thailand. After reading and trying this delicious recipe they shared, check out their website as they frequently offer great specials.

Baked Purple Eggplant with Red Onion

Servings

One

Ingredients

2 pieces Long Purple Eggplant – fresh

1 piece Red Onion – fresh

2 bunches Sage – fresh

3 leaves Bay – fresh

1 tablespoon Sultana – dry

1 teaspoon Brown Sugar – powder

2 teaspoons Sherry Vinegar

½ teaspoon Cinnamon – powder

½ teaspoon Sea Salt – natural

1 sprinkle Black Pepper – powder

2 teaspoons Pine Nuts – dry

1 stick Cinnamon – dry

3 tablespoons Sunflower Oil or Almond Oil or Walnut Oil – cold-pressed virgin

Directions

Step 1 Cut the Eggplants length-wise to make a pocket. Open the pocket and spread the Sea Salt along each cut surface. Leave for 10 minutes. Rinse the Sea Salt from the Eggplants with cold water. Dry the Eggplants with cloth or tissue paper.

Step 2 Pre-heat the oven to 200 C. Dip in and cover the Eggplant with the Sunflower Oil. Bake the Eggplant for 15-20 minutes, until soft. Take the Eggplant out of the oven to cool.

Step 3 Slice the Red Onion into rings. Dice the Sultanas. Slice the Sage into small strips. Add the Sunflower Oil to a saucepan. Place the Red Onion, Sage, Bay, Cinnamon and Sultanas in the saucepan and stir-fry with medium heat until the Red Onion is soft. Add Brown Sugar, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Sherry Vinegar and mix well. Allow to cool.

Step 4 Place the Red Onion mixture in the pocket of each Eggplant. Sprinkle Pine Nuts on top. Decorate with Cinnamon stick and Bay leave. Serve.

Wellness Notes

Bay: enhances digestion, regulates blood sugar levels, protects the heart, reduces the risk of cancer; has anti-inflammatory property.

Cinnamon: moderates blood sugar and blood pressure; improves capillary function; is a powerful anti-oxidant; is anti-bacterial and has anti-fungal property which helps control candida; anti-inflammatory property helps pain and stiffness in the muscles, joints and menstrual discomfort.

Eggplant: contains nasunin, which is an anthocyanin and powerful antioxidant; is high in fiber and low in calories; is high in potassium, niacin, folate, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and phytosterols.

Pine Nuts: are high in anti-oxidants; are high in monounsaturated fats, which reduce blood cholesterol levels and help protect arteries to reduce risk of heart attack.

Red Onion: contains powerful antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties; shown to help prevent stomach, prostate, esophageal cancers; helps increase bone strength and reduce coronary heart disease; contains quercetin which helps minimize allergies, asthma, hay fever; may also lower blood fat and blood pressure.

Sage: has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant properties; in Ayurvedic medicine is considered a purifying herb; is a memory enhancer.

Sunflower Oil: contains monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats with low saturated fat levels; is high in Vitamin E, more than all other vegetable oils; helps lower cholesterol and retain moisture in the skin; contains phyto-nutrients that help protect against cancer.