who needs chinese take-out....

I'm working on expanding my veggie-land and picked up an eggplant last week. I had no real plan for it and wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it until it came to me as I was out walking the dogs. It was already late as I've been trying to catch up in office-land but I googled some eggplant recipes, made a list and headed to the store. An hour later I began chopping. My inspiration for the dish was a distant memory from my trip to China in 2004. We had an eggplant dish that was in a spicy soy sauce and all this time later I still long for it.
I found a Szechuan Spicy Eggplant recipe here and made a few changes as my little store didn't have everything I needed. Who has green onions in a small ski town in late March? Oyster Sauce- nope but they did have Thai Kitchen Fish Sauce and Chili Paste (both clearly labeled Gluten Free)
I also hate fish so went light on that sauce while going heavy on the soy and and white sugar and did chicken instead of shrimp. I had mushrooms and shredded carrots in the fridge so I added those to my eggplant.

From TOBB Fakeout Chinese

I prepped all my veggies, sauces and chicken so when I started up the pan I'd have things ready to wok.
Following directions to the best of my abilities I made the dish and served it over leftover white rice with a touch of cilantro for garnish.

From TOBB Fakeout Chinese

Who needs Chinese takeout when you can make this? I'll admit I was overwhelmed by the eggplant so tonight when I made the dish I did a medley of other veggies instead- onion, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli and asparagus. Again I prepped all my veggies and the chicken before getting started. I also started the rice cooker for fresh rice and threw some spinach in the veggie steamer on top. This way I could add spinach to mine while leaving Dave's spinach free.

From TOBB Fakeout Chinese

I made the sauce from memory and only forgot the black pepper...then the oil at the end of the dish. I had almost forgotten the cornstarch and water slurry but remembered in time.

From TOBB Fakeout Chinese

I'm just as happy with my second round of this dish and I'm sure Dave will be happy to have an eggplant free version as well. I grabbed a New Planet and settled in with the dogs for a night of Private Practice, enjoying the show but missing my weekly dose of Grey's Anatomy. Thankfully I'll get a good fix next week with a new episode.

From TOBB Fakeout Chinese