Tag Archives: eggplant

fall, recipes, Suggested Servings

Suggested Servings: Fried Eggplant

Tonight, Sean is out of town. It’s warm in Oakland: We’re having our typical October summer. I decided to skip the gym after work, and ran a few errands instead. Good errands, the kind I love: crafting supplies and groceries. I stopped by A Verb for Keeping Warm to buy a zipper for a skirt I’m making, and then visited the big, overwhelming, farther away grocery store, the one that makes Sean anxious with its crowded aisles and huge, pushy carts. The one that makes me swoon with the possibilities of all that it contains. I browsed and binged on peaches and apples and pasta and avocados, and on my drive home, even the traffic on the 580 couldn’t irritate me.

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recipes, Suggested Servings, summer

Suggested Servings: Eggplant and Smoked Mozzarella Pasta

Most nights I throw together dinner based on what’s in the refrigerator and the pantry, cooking by the seat of my pants without a recipe. Sometimes these are the best dinners I make, and I want to share them with you. There are no proper recipes for these dinners and what I share is merely a suggestion. If the idea appeals to you, run with it and make it your own. Share your variations and the unique spin you put on it, and have fun in the kitchen, cooking without a book. 

We’ve been getting a lot of eggplant in our CSA this summer, which initially presented a bit of a challenge. Sean has never been a big fan of eggplant, so I had to find a way to make this sometimes tricky vegetable appealing to him. I’m pleased to say, I think I’ve succeeded in making him, if not an eggplant fan, at least a passing acquaintance. And this pasta might have had something to do with it.

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recipes, summer

Eggplant Gratin with Saffron Custard

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Slice of eggplant gratin on a white plate, with a green napkin

Oh my. Oh goodness. Excuse me while I swoon. This unassuming little vegetable gratin is definitely swoon worthy. If you’ve been facing down some eggplant, wondering what to do with it, don’t think for a minute more. This is what you want to do with it.

I made this glorious thing last week when Sean was out of town and was immediately sad that he wasn’t there to enjoy it with me. Of course, there were plenty of leftovers, since this easily serves about six people. And he did enjoy it when he got home. But the night I pulled it out of the oven, with the kitchen smelling of tomatoes and garlic and olive oil, it felt almost magical. It was that good.
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recipes, summer

Grilled Pizza with Eggplant and Pesto

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Grilled Pizza on a Cutting Board

Pizza night is the best. A round of crispy dough topped with melting cheese and salty meats and fresh, just-cooked vegetables? It never fails to bring a smile to my face. I went through a period a few years ago when I might have been a tad bit obsessed with making the perfect pizza. I was obsessed enough to crank our oven up to 550 degrees in the middle of a Boston summer, making our apartment basically uninhabitable. I did not care. It was all in the service of pizza.

We might not be dealing with record temperatures and humidity here in the Bay, but I’m still wary of forcing the oven to its highest limits in the summer. But pizza on the grill? Totally do-able. I’ve been wanting to try making grilled pizza for ages, but…gah, it seemed so finicky. Pizza dough can be insufferably sticky, and visions of grill grate disasters plagued me. I was worried for no reason. Pizza on the grill is way easier than you might imagine. And fun, besides.
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