Eggplant with Garlic Sauce

I've been craving a vegetable stir-fry dish for a while now and with summer, it's good time to experiment with different veggies. I love finding unique flavors to dress-up these veggies and this Asian-inspired garlic sauce blends nicely with the sweet ginger to give the eggplant a sweet and salty bite. 

This side is a great base to build off of. It can be an easy vegetarian dinner with the addition of tofu just as easily as grilled chicken can be added to give it an extra punch of protein!
                                                                                                     
Ingredients: Serves 2

Eggplant (cubed)--- 1 Lb 
Onion (sliced)--- 1/2 C
Ginger (minced)--- 1 tsp
Olive Oil--- 2 tbsp

For the Garlic Sauce:

Water--- 1/2 C
Garlic Powder--- 2 tbsp
Corn Starch--- 2 tsp
Soy Sauce--- 1/4 C
Oyster Sauce--- 2 tbs
Pepper Flakes--- 1 tsp
                                                                                                     
To prepare the eggplant, slice and salt in order to draw the moisture to the surface. Let water rise to the surface of the eggplant for at least 30 minutes. Pat dry with a paper towel and cube eggplant into bite-sized pieces.

Chop onion and ginger (be sure to remove the skin off the ginger!) and combine with eggplant in a large mixing bowl.

Mix water, garlic powder, soy & oyster sauces as well as pepper flakes. In a small pot bring liquid to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally until the garlic powder dissolves. Stir in corn starch until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

In a large frying pan or wok, saute eggplant, onion and ginger until tender. Add a generous amount of garlic sauce to the pan and coat the eggplant.   

Serve over rice and enjoy!