Sauteed Eggplant and Carrots w/ Cranberries and Crispy Sage

Another side dish that you might use for Thanksgiving?  YES. PLEASE. 

In other news, wanna know what the best thing about teaching morning yoga is?  You are ready for lunch at 10am in a RAVENOUS way.  Or not. 

This side dish, though.  It's NICE.  Real nice.  It can be used as a side dish, or (spoiler alert) a main dish salad with a few adjustments.  The dried cranberries add a great sweetness to balance the bitterness of the eggplant, and it's EASY.  20 minutes or so, cook some parts while you prep others, that kind of thing. 

Also crispy sage so...let's do it. 

You'll need eggplant, carrots, salt, nutmet, olive oil, sage, dried cranberries, and walnuts. Or pecans.  Or any nut you like.  You're in charge!

Now, you can do this in one pan or two pans, depending on your time available to dish avoidance ratio.  That's definitely a real thing.  The two pan method goes like this:  in one pan, start carrots, the other pan is for toasting nuts. Then you use that second plan to crisp the sage while the carrots/eggplant keep cooking.  OR, you can use one pan.  Toast the nuts, set them aside.  Crisp the sage, set it aside.  Start carrots.  Add eggplant.  Proceed.  Pick a method!  I did a one-skillet method since I don't like dishes, but you have to be you.  

For starters, toast the nuts if they aren't already in a dry skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes or so just until you can smell them. Dry.  Not doused with olive oil like this is.  Sigh.  I'm a moron. 

Set the walnuts aside.  YUM!

Then, onto the sage!  Add some olive oil to the hot pan and strip the sage leaves from their stems.  

Add the sage leaves to the olive oil and let them fry for 3 minutes or so until crispy and slightly browned on both sides.  Remove them to a paper towel to dry while you make the rest of the meal. 

Now, onto the veggies!  While the walnuts and sage are working, cut the carrots into bite-sized chunks. 

To the same pan, add the carrots with a sprinkle of salt.  They should sizzle, but just a bit.  Adjust the heat up or down if necessary.  

Cook the carrots for 5 minutes to start softening them.  While you do that, prep the eggplant.  I leave the skin on because its good and good for you, but peel it if you're a pansy.  Cut the eggplant into large slices. 

Then cut the slices into cubes.  

When the carrots have slightly softened, add the eggplant to the pan with some more salt and the nutmeg.  Stir the veggies together for 5-10 more minutes until the eggplant and carrots are soft and cooked through.  I like my eggplant still slightly spongy in the middle, but let yours cook a bit longer if you like it really soft. 

When the veggies are cooked, add the cranberries and walnuts.  Stir everything together, and taste!  Add more salt if you'd like.  

Top the eggplant with the crispy sage, and you're ready to go!  LOVELY.  

This is a great side dish, but OH AND ALSO!  I added some arugula, pepper, and parmesan on top of mine and BOOM.  Main dish salad. 

However you enjoy this, you will ENJOY it.  Promise.  Trust me.  

Try it soon!

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