Healthy Thai Basil Eggplant

Recently I’ve been craving the spicy Thai Basil Eggplant from the Thai spot near our house, so I decided to try and make a healthier version (one that wouldn’t leave me feeling swollen from the craaaazy amount of sodium most places use). In hindsight I wish that I would have used Japanese eggplant instead of an Italian one to get the super authentic taste and feel, but honestly any kind of eggplant will still give you good results. Combined with Thai basil, red and green bell peppers, onions,  and some organic chicken breast, this dish was a hit and surprisingly simple. As always, this recipe has tons of antioxidant-packed, cancer-fighting veggies and lean protein, and can definitely be made without the chicken for a vegan/vegetarian dish (Big C needs meat in his life or things are not right with the world).

Ingredients:

  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 thai chiles (sub jalapeno if you can’t get ahold of thai)
  • 3 Japanese eggplants or 1 Italian eggplant
  • 1 onion (I had red on hand but white is fine too)
  • 1 bunch thai basil (not to be confused with ‘normal’ basil – there is a distinct flavor difference)
  • 3 thinly sliced chicken breasts (optional)
  • 1 tbs coconut oil (or other preferred cooking oil)
  • 2 tbs reduced-sodium soy sauce OR Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

How to do it:

  1. Clean and seed the bell peppers, cutting them into thin strips
  2. Cut onion into 1/2 inch thick slices
  3. Mince garlic
  4. Wash thai basil and pull off the leaves, set aside
  5. Cut eggplant into cubes, leaving the skin on
  6. Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan, and add half of the garlic as well as the chiles, eggplant, and onion. Stir fry  for about 5-7 minutes, adding water if necessary to keep your veggies from sticking to the pan. Stir fry until the eggplant feels tender and the onions and peppers have started to cook through.
  7. Add fish sauce, soy sauce/Bragg’s, and remaining half of the garlic to your pan and continue to cook for about 2-4 minutes
  8. Add thai basil at the end (it wilts quickly), and then remove from heat.
  9. If you are using chicken, I suggest cooking it in a separate pan and then adding it into the mixture at the end. Simply slice into bite-sized pieces, pan grill with a little bit of coconut oil, and then toss in with the veggies before adding the sauces and remaining garlic.
  10. Easy and delicious! This would be really good with cauliflower ‘rice’ or thai coconut rice…I’m planning to try to make some thai coconut cauliflower rice some time in the near future too…so check back soon!

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