The Extraordinary Eggplant

為什麼茄子叫Eggplant? Enjoy one of the world’s healthiest foods來享用世界上最健康的食物之一 by Chelsea Ewald

Enjoy one of the world’s healthiest foods

What's delicious, healthy to eat and comes in a variety of colors? Eggplant! And no, it has nothing to do with chickens! This strangely named vegetable is, however, as versatile as an egg. It can be steamed, fried or baked. It can be eaten by itself or combined with meats and other vegetables.

Eggplant was first grown in India during the 5th century B.C. Its popularity soon spread to China and then throughout Asia. Finally during the Middle Ages the vegetable made its way to Europe. At that time, eggplant was not the shiny purple vegetable most people know today. Instead, it resembled a white egg.

Due to this egg-like appearance, eggplant got its name. In its early days, the vegetable was so bitter that people often called it a "mad apple." This nickname started because people believed its bitterness was bad for one's health. People actually thought eggplant could cause insanity and cancer.
Fortunately, today people know that eggplant doesn't cause insanity or cancer. In fact, eggplant is so healthy that it may prevent cancer. In addition, the brain and the heart benefit from this super vegetable. Since it is high in fiber, eggplant can also improve digestion.
Italy, Turkey, Egypt, China and Japan are the leading growers of eggplant in the world today.
Depending on its location, eggplant may be purple, green, orange or yellow-white.
And it can be as small as a tomato or as large as a cucumber. Dish varieties range form simple to complex, with all of them being delicious!

Loomis Eggplant Festival
Today, thousands of people are gathering in Loomis, Calif., for the 23rd annual Loomis Eggplant Festival. The main activity at the festival is eating delicious eggplant dishes. There is plenty more to do and see though. Recipe contests, art and crafts, performers, races and children's activities all "egg-cite" festival-goers.
Most people at the festival would agree-eggplant is an "egg-cellent" vegetable!

More information:
If you want a good eggplant choose one that is firm. Test it by gently pressing the skin with your thumb. If the skin bounces back, the eggplant is ripe. If the eggplant skin doesn't bounce back, it's not ripe so put it back! The skin of the eggplant should be smooth and shiny. And whether it's purple, green, orange or yellow-white, the color of the eggplant should be vivid!


Grammar Tips:
Eggplant! And no, it has nothing to do with chickens
"and no" , or "and yes" refer to when people see "eggplant" and pop up a question on mind, and give it directly negative or positive answer in an informal way.
After the hike, the whole team is invited to my house for dinner, and no, I'm not cooking, we're ordering pizza.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm your host for today's singing contest, and no, you will not be hearing me sing.
"and yes"-
On this walking tour, you'll get to see famous sites, browse through local craft shops, and yes, even sample some local snacks.
On my camping trip, I learned how to find food in the wild, build my own shelter, and yes, I even learned how to make fire without using a match or a lighter.

Vocabulary Tips:
variety-各式各樣，各種不同種類，多種多樣。（都用單數）
*The school provides a wide variety of courses for students to choose from.
*You can find a good variety of produce here at this grocery store.
combine-混合，結合， 加上（某事物）。。
*The company decided to combine their sales department with their customer service department to save on expenses.
*Stress at work combined with his poor health condition forced Dick to take a break.工作壓力加上体衰。。
insanity-神智不清的，精神失常的。極端愚蠢的 in-有“否定”之意 sanity-清醒地，神智正常的
*The patient suffers from insanity and is hospitalized now. 患有精神失常
*It would be insanity to trust this guy again. 再相信那傢伙就是太愚蠢了
fortunately-幸運地,幸好 fortunate(n)-好運
*Fortunately, we got to the train station just in time to catch the train.
*We had an accident on the way home, but fortunately, nobody got hurt.
digestion-消化,或是消化作用digest-消化
*This diet not only helps a person lose weight, it also aids digestion.
*His poor digestion caused him to constantly suffer from a stomachache.
annual-年度的，每年一次的。ann-有“年”的意思
*Keely's annual income is over $50,000.
*The company's annual finance report will be posted tomorrow.
fiber-found in vegetable, fruits and whole wheat, it's not easy to digest, but go through your body quickly .

Chat Room
bitter-苦，用在‘人’身上，是懷恨，苦毒，不好的經驗，久久懷恨在心，難以釋懷。
feels bitter-充滿憎恨，敵意，苦毒
bitter experience-難受的，痛苦的經驗。
through bitter experience learn something the hard way.經歷到難受，痛苦的經驗，挫折才學乖
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super vegetable-超級蔬菜
super foods-超級食物，即有益於身心的食物，不只有高度的營養，也具有防預疾病的成分
low-free-低脂
fat-free-無脂
serving-食用份量
calorie-free-無熱量
nutrition label-營養標簽
low-free/ low calorie- "free" it doesn't mean completely without, it means under the standard requirement. 低於標準以下。