Magic foods for better blood sugar: eggplant

While it's not a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals, eggplant is one of the richest plant sources of antioxidants you can find in the supermarket, ranking right up there with spinach and sweet potatoes.

• Aside from eggplant Parmesan, which contains more fat than two large servings of fast-food French fries, eggplant dishes aren't exactly regulars on most of our tables, but they should be.
• Voluminous and almost meaty in texture, eggplant is a great addition to pasta because it lets you use less pasta, lowering the glycemic load (GL) of the meal, and still fill your plate.
• It's also a fabulous filling for lasagna in place of meat, reducing calories and saturated fat.
• Eggplants come in an unexpected variety of sizes, shapes and colours.
• Look for a type called Black Magic; it has nearly three times the antioxidants found in other eggplants.
• When it's not deep fried (eggplant acts like a sponge, soaking up four times as much fat as French fried potatoes), it's low in calories (it's almost 95 percent water) and carbs.
• Because its spongy flesh is also a good source of soluble fibre, eggplant makes the list of foods that can help lower both your blood sugar and your cholesterol.

To limit the amount of oil eggplant soaks up, salt eggplant slices and lay them out on a cooling or cookie rack over the sink for at least 15 minutes. Turn the slices, salt the other side and leave for at least 15 minutes more. Rinse off the excess salt, pat the slices dry and you're ready to go. A perfect portion is 125 grams (1/2 cup), but since eggplant has very few calories and a very low GL, feel free to eat more than this, especially if you don't add a lot of oil. Here are some eggplant recipes to try:

• As an appetizer, whip up blood sugar–friendly baba ghanoush, a Middle Eastern dish made with pureed roasted eggplant, minced garlic, tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice and olive oil. Serve it with a wholewheat pita or wholewheat crackers. It's also good as a sandwich spread.
• For dinner, make ratatouille, a hearty vegetable dish featuring eggplant and many other Magic foods, including onions, garlic, tomatoes and olive oil.
• Sauté eggplant with onion and garlic and use it to replace some of the ground beef in beef dishes to cut fat and calories and add an antioxidant boost.
• Substitute eggplant and mushrooms for ground beef the next time you make lasagna.
• For a quick, easy side dish, grill small Japanese eggplants brushed with olive oil, minced garlic and salt and pepper. There's nothing quite as good as grilled eggplant.

Although it isn't the most nutritious food out there, eggplant is a great way to balance out a meal and cut down on other forms of carbs (such as pasta). Plus, the antioxidants are sure to help you feel better and more energized. Take a look at your weekly meal plan and see where you can substitute in eggplant!