Eggplant, yummy Eggplant

I know I've already told you about my love of Farmer's Markets. When I go I try to keep an open mind and just buy whatever happens to look good. Each region will be different but where I'm from you're somewhat limited because it is a very arid climate. Regardless, the farmers bring forth their variety of produce religiously each Saturday morning.

One of the things I wasn't sure about the first time I picked it up was Eggplant. First of all, a lot of produce looks much different at a farmer's market than at your local grocery store. This can be due to many reasons. It can be a different strain of the same fruit or vegetable, harvested at a different time, or it doesn't have the genetic alterations that a lot of grocery store produce has that makes them more appealing to the eye.

But, don't think for a second that you are sacrificing on taste. In fact, your local, fresher, and probably organic produce from your farmer's market will have more taste than anything you've picked up at a grocery store.

But back to the eggplant. So the first time I bought eggplant at the farmer's market the vendor said that it is an asian eggplant so they are smaller and longer. I brought them home and cooked them on 300 for 30-40 minutes with some salt/pepper/oil covered it. (tops removed and cut lengthwise) They turned out OK. They were a little crispy and a lot of the eggplant meat seemed to have shrunk in the oven so there just wasn't much there. The flavor was still pretty good, though.

The next time I went I bought some eggplant from a vendor that had your traditional variety of eggplant. But, they tended to be a bit smaller than what I had seen in the stores. I would say they would be considered small to medium sized. I found a great recipe, though for Basil Eggplant. Luckily, on a whim I had also bought some basil as well.

I didn't follow the recipe exactly but it turned out pretty good. I started with about 6 small eggplants or same as about 1 large eggplant. The eggplant was cut into 1-inch cubes, tossed with olive oil and half a lemon worth of lemon juice, and seasoned with coarse salt and pepper. I also added a little garlic powder and perfect pinch seasoning. I roasted the cubed eggplant on 450 degrees for 25 minutes. After roasting I squeezed the other half of the lemon (about 2 tablespoons worth) over the eggplant and added minced basil and tossed it.

Now you could stop there and be happy with it. I snacked on it quite a bit in that state and enjoyed it immensely. I had a bit more of a hunger though so I mixed the eggplant with a beef pasta sauce and spaghetti and made dinner of it. My non-vegetable-loving fiance got a meat sauce & spaghetti dinner and we were both happy. :)