Roasted Aubergine and Spinach Curry

A delicious vegetarian curry that's easy to make and tasty!

'Roasting' the aubergines until soft, and then scooping out the flesh means that you don't need to cook them in lots of oil, and that they take on a rich, toasty flavour from the slight char on the skin which permeates through to the flesh.

If made with two de-seeded large red chillies, this is a very mild curry, which makes a lovely vegetarian main on its own (you may want to add a tin of chickpeas to add more texture and protein to the curry, if you want to serve it as a main on its own), or a beautiful side dish to other curries, or part of a selection (e.g. a thali).

Makes seven portions (main sized) of approximately 250g, at 134 calories each; or eight servings if including chick peas (see 'variations'), at 157 calories a portion. Serves more as a side dish, and freezes well.

Courgette and Aubergine Curry (Zucchini and Eggplant)

Delicious on its own, or as an accompaniment to other curries.

This is a simple but tasty curry, delicately spiced and lovely as a main, or an accompaniment to other curries. You can play around and substitute whatever vegetables you have available ( it’s very versatile – peppers, cauliflower, squash, okra, sliced carrots, green beans are all good – or you could make it with just aubergine, or a mixture of vegetables.

I usually like to serve this as part of a selection of Indian dishes to cater for all palates, but it is excellent as a low calorie vegetarian main dish.

Serves 4-8 depending on whether served as a main dish, or a side dish.

Calories per serving: 120 calories if served between four people as a main, 60 calories if served between eight as a side.

Classic Moussaka - with additional Skinny Version under 350 calories (includes Thermomix instructions)

A classic and comforting dish, full of flavour with flexible options to suit everybody.

Layers of rich meaty sauce, flavoured with earthy Mediterranean spices and herbs, alternating with tender slices of aubergine, topped with a béchamel sauce enriched with egg yolks and cheese.

I like to make up a double quantity of the meat sauce, and freeze it so that next time I just have to cook the aubergines and béchamel before assembling - however, to avoid confusion, I've just put the quantities as you need them to serve six (they're easily doubled if you want to do this too - which is why I've separated the different parts of the dish to make it easier to double up the sauce).
This serves 6 people. If you're counting calories and keeping it lean with the skinny version, then this is from 347 calories per serving with skinny béchamel, steamed aubergines and extra lean beef mince. For a more luxurious and traditional version, it's 566 calories per serving as below, with oven-baked aubergines. You can switch which bits you please to suit you - the calories are split out for each ingredient to help you re-count. See Notes below for some of the variables.

You can make and assemble this a day or two in advance if you like, as it tastes even better the next day, sets nicely and is easier to cut once it's chilled - it will just need longer to cook from chilled.

Oh - and 'The Quick Cheat': If you don't want to faff about layering meat sauce with aubergines and potatoes and all that... well, you really don't have to for a simple supper. Just cook the meat sauce in a large pan which will fit underneath the grill (USA broiler) while you're cooking the aubergines/potatoes, and add in the tomatoes a little earlier (skip the egg white) to reduce down while you make the béchamel, then toss in the aubergines (and potatoes if using). Stir through and cook for a few minutes until the aubergines are heated through, then pour the béchamel over the top, scatter with the grated cheese, and pop under a pre-heated grill (broiler) until it's bubbling and browned (You could even Super-Cheat and just scatter over a block of crumbled feta if you didn't want to make the béchamel sauce, as a tasty alternative!). Set aside for a few minutes to cool, and serve with a fresh green salad (and some crusty bread)!

Miso-Sesame Grilled Aubergines (Eggplants)

Aubergines, Japanese style!

Great vegetarian main or side dish – even my children loved it  and scoffed the lot, which surprised me as one of them is not too keen on aubergine! Goes well with some form of pickles, or acidic salad (e.g. my Japanese Pickles, Cucumber-Radish Pickles, Cucumber and Wakame Seaweed Salad (Sunomono)) on the side, as it’s quite rich-tasting.

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Serves 2 as a main dish or four as a side dish; 88 calories per serving (aubergine half) as a side dish, 174 calories per serving for a main course.

Steamed Chilli Chicken (or Tofu) cooked with Sea-Spiced Aubergines and Rice - Thermomix Method

These are quite simple dishes to make in themselves. (If you want the non-thermomix methods, go here for the Steamed Chilli Chicken recipe, and here for the Sea-Spiced Aubergines recipe). You can cook them all together in your Thermomix, and just finish off the aubergines in the sauce in a wok at the end while the chicken is resting and keeping warm in the Varoma.

The quantities given for the chicken serves two people as a main dish for 161 calories per serving, and you could easily double this if you're feeding more. If you prefer, substitute firm tofu (you can press wrapped in clean muslin for 20 minutes first, to firm up a little more, before cubing), and omit the blanching stage as not necessary. The quantities given for the aubergine serves four as a main, or six to eight as a side (depending on how hungry you are! Its 84 calories for a quarter of this quantity.), and I have cooked it in greater quantities because it freezes and re-heats well, and is great stirred into stir-fried noodles the next day, with some poultry, or meat of your choice and a handful of beansprouts, or similar! However, feel free to halve the quantities if you only want to make enough for two without lefteovers. The aubergines are also great as an accompaniment to dishes such as home-made Char Siu Pork or a smoked dish such as Tea-Smoked Chicken or duck.

Sea-spiced Aubergines

The correct translation of this very-popular Sichuan dish, is 'fish-fragrant' aubergines, but I tend to think people are more familiar with 'sea-spiced', which doesn't give the incorrect impression that there is any actual fish in the dish (the term comes from using flavours often used to cook fish with).

This quantity would serve four as a vegetarian main dish, or six to eight as a vegetable side dish, or as a selection of Chinese dishes and it's a great accompaniment to a drier dish (like a steamed dish such as my Steamed Chilli Chicken, maybe some home-made Char Siu Pork or a smoked dish such as Tea-Smoked Chicken or duck). This entire quantity is only 337 calories, making it 84 calories per serving for a main, and only 42 to 56 calories for a side dish (depending on whether serving between eight or six people).

Unlike some Chinese dishes, it freezes and re-heats well - the next day I tossed some of it with some cooked noodles and stir-fried mince with a little extra light soy and sesame to make another really quick and tasty dish (see notes below for noodle ideas using this)!

Stuffed Aubergines (Eggplants) with Moorish Spices and Manchego Cheese

This is actually a form of distraction from chocolate...

Not this dish, per se, but posting it here. Which is passing some of the time before I can rescue my box of Troffel Chocolates from their hiding place after the children have gone to bed. More on that later, as you want to know how to cook delicious stuffed aubergines, not how to eat chocolate truffles!

Aubergines get a bad press sometimes, because they are guilty of being the type of vegetable which can soak up a lot of oil if you let them. Not that all oils are bad, but certain things are best in moderation.

That's not a problem with this Spanish dish, because the aubergines are partially steamed first, to tenderise them before finishing off the cooking process.

Steaming aubergines can give meltingly tender results, when you cook them all the way through, and I have a couple in the fridge waiting to be experimented upon to see whether I can do this to make 'fish fragrant' aubergines, a popular Sichuan dish. But I digress, you're after these juicy-looking cheese topped aubergines, so here is my stuffed aubergines recipe...

Berenjenas Rellenas de Carne (Aubergines stuffed with meat)

Serves four as a main meal with side dishes (or use really small aubergines to serve this dish as tapas), 244 calories per serving as a main.

Aubergines are popular in the Balearic Islands, and in this dish they are steamed in a pan with a little water before being stuffed, which means that unlike in many aubergine dishes, they do not soak up oil like sponges, and the flesh and the skin come out meltingly tender. However eating stuffed aubergines with cheese on the top feels incredibly decadent, and you’d never believe they were under 250 calories, when you taste them!

Aubergine, Pork and Ginger Miso Soup

Another light soup. If you like miso soup, then here's a tasty variation. It doesn't require much introduction, as there's not much too it - it's just a light variant on miso soup.

                      Aubergine, Pork and Ginger Miso Soup

Serves 4, easily halved. 72 calories per serving. A tasty, light broth ideal for fast days, as a light starter, or an accompaniment to simple Japanese dishes or sushi. If you fancy a bit of a kick, just give it a shake of Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese 7 pepper spice mix) after you’ve served it, and if you want to bulk it out, add some rinsed, snipped up Shirataki (Zero/Miracle) noodles for the last two minutes.