Eggplant

Roasting the eggplants at a high heat will make the flesh very tender while making the skin a little crispy. This recipe is from Gunpowder, an Indian restaurant in London.

Bush’s® grilled summer veggie and bean bowl with harissa vinaigrette

This saffron-infused, vegetarian version of the traditional savory Iranian rice cake is made with earthy portobello mushrooms and meaty eggplants.

Thin, naturally grain-free chickpea flour pancakes take the place of tortillas in these warmly spiced lamb and eggplant “tacos.”

All your efforts will be rewarded the moment you pull this custardy eggplant slathered in tangy sauce, and a crispy, cheesy top from the oven.

This stick-to-your ribs vegetarian dinner is a snap to make: Just hit the prepared pasta section of the grocery store for the gnocchi, roast some eggplant (do this step ahead, if you want), add marinara (store-bought is fine), and top with mozzarella.

Summer squash forms the base of this play on ratatouille, with pan-seared eggplant and cherry tomatoes rounding things out.

Japanese eggplants are smaller, sweeter, and faster-cooking than other types. If using globe eggplants, slice them into half-inch rounds.

Our skewer motto: marinate together, cook separately. Giving each ingredient its own stick ensures the whole meal is grilled to optimal doneness. (Read: no dry chicken because you're still waiting for the onions to soften.)

Turn simply poached salmon into a complete meal with a ratatouille that cooks in the same amount of time as the fish.

Grilled portobello mushroom burgers with grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers, red onion, arugula, and pesto sauce.

This fast one-pot dinner is rich enough to comfort, but light enough that it won’t weigh you down.

This subtly flavored salad really celebrates the chickpea, which is an excellent source of fiber, protein and iron, and perfect for keeping us going on busy days.

The broccoli should still have snap and crunch after charring.

This stunner of an entrée is an entirely meatless take on turducken, with butternut squash, eggplant, and zucchini filling in for the usual suspects.

When I traveled to Sicily, I must have eaten no fewer than ten versions of eggplant caponata, and I never got sick of it! I also learned about the agrodolce—or sweet and sour—flavor profile that's so predominant in this dish, and in lots of Sicilian cuisine. My version of caponata is really flexible—serve it with crostini as a make-ahead appetizer, or even as a side dish. The addition of the briny capers, anchovies, and acidic vinegar help cure the eggplant and other veggies, so this dish only gets better in a tightly sealed container in the fridge, where it will last for up to a week.

Everything about these sandwiches screams "backyard summer party" to me. Simmering vegetables all day really brings out the individual flavors, and I love how I can get so many good-for-you vitamins into such a delicious package.

Even though they're vegetarian, these cheesy, BBQ sauce-slathered eggplant sandwiches are satisfyingly meaty.

This dish turns the satisfying Italian American sandwich filling–sausage and peppers–into a hearty pasta dish.

Eggplant and tomatoes are delicious roasted and blended into a chunky sauce with garlic, crushed red pepper and mint. The sauce complements the chicken & roasted garlic tortelloni nicely and makes for a wonderful dish for entertaining.

Any combination of flame-kissed veggies brushed and tossed with this easy vinaigrette makes a deliciously smoky side.

One of the most popular items on the Tanoreen menu, this tower of crispy pesto-marinated eggplant slices spread with smoky baba ghanouj, just might be the dish that inspired me to write this cookbook. It draws on the flavors of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, but the truth is, I created it to encourage my son to eat eggplant. He always loved fried zucchini sticks, so I cut eggplant in the same shape and he was none the wiser (although here they're cut in rounds). This is a good example of how I have taken advantage of ingredients that are available to me in the States and married them with the classic preparations from my childhood.