Eggplant

Whole-wheat pasta, which contains more fiber and is slightly chewier and nuttier tasting than regular pasta, adds nutritional value to this dish.

My roommate recently made this for a party we were having and was surprised that something so tasty and fancy looking could be so easy to make. Everyone loved it and was impressed that she had made it. It travels well, too. Combined with a side salad, it makes for a nice lunch.

Eggplant Parmesan is incredibly delicious, but, in its standard form, pretty labor-intensive. This fun spin on eggplant Parmesan is a great dish to take to a party, or just to make for dinner with friends. Everyone who has ever tried this has asked for more, so you probably won’t have leftovers. But that’s okay in this case: it’s at its best when it’s freshly made.

I never realized that there were so many ways to make curry until a few of my friends got into a discussion of the virtues of the different types. There’s red, made with red chiles; green, made with green chiles; and yellow, made with turmeric. Countries all across Asia, from India to Malaysia to Thailand (and Mongolia!), have dishes called curries—all spicy. Then there’s the wet/dry divide, which has to do with how much sauce the dish has. In case you’re interested, this is a dry, yellow, Indian-style curry.

In Vietnam, small clay charcoal-fired braziers are used to cook dishes like this smoky eggplant topped with scallion and served with a garlic-chile dipping sauce. Here in the States, I often make this dish in the summer when the farmers’ market is brimming with an incredible array of eggplants. (The vegetable is at its sweetest in August and September.) You can cook the eggplant over a gas burner, or even bake it, but you’ll have the best results on a grill. Small globe eggplants, meaty Italian eggplants, and slender Japanese eggplants all work well for this recipe.

Eggplants are prepared in many ways by Viet cooks, but my two favorites are deep-fried, as in this recipe, and grilled or roasted until smoky and soft , as in Grilled Eggplant with Seared Scallion (page 184). Here, I coat thickish eggplant slices with a thin batter, which yields deep-fried pieces with a moist interior and a delicate crust that remains crisp well after frying. For the best results, use slender, firm, blemish-free Chinese, Italian, or Japanese eggplants. They have an appealing meatiness and fry better than large globe eggplants.

To my mind, flatbread always calls out for eggplant or hummus, so why not eat the two together? I like to add to the complexity by frying up some extra chickpeas—something that, in greater quantities, makes for a fantastic party appetizer. Look for za’atar spice in Middle Eastern markets or buy it online from spice purveyors such as Penzeys.com.

This is a gorgeous dish, sumptuous and rich, a perfect accompaniment to grilled lamb or to steak. I have served it as a vegetable main dish with brown basmati rice too. By rights, cream and eggplant should never meet, but here they seem to work splendidly.

Za’atar is a mild spice mixture available in Middle Eastern markets and some supermarkets. Fragrant and green, it is usually prepared using dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, toasted sesame seeds, and salt. Some varieties may add savory, cumin, coriander, or fennel seeds.

A lovely, deeply flavored vegetable stew. This is one of those dishes that is all the better for a day in the fridge, during which time the flavors seem to mellow. I have kept it quite spicy but the final seasoning will depend on how hot your chiles are, and you will need to adjust it accordingly. Something to take your time over. I eat it with steamed basmati rice.

You could probably use any finely ground dried chile for this, but I like the mixed ground seasoning known as nanami togarashi. Togarashi is simply the Japanese term for red chile, but this one is blended with orange peel, sesame seeds, and ginger. It has a slight grittiness that works well with the silky softness of the eggplant. You can find it in any Japanese market. Get the yellow miso, by the way, not the darker and substantially saltier one. Small eggplants are best for this, available from Chinese and Asian markets.

Sicily’s cooks make much of the eggplant. They fry it in crisp disks, with mint and vinegar; bake it with tomato sauce and salty caciocavallo cheese; stuff it with anchovies, parsley, and capers; or grill it over charcoal before seasoning with garlic and oregano. Occasionally, they will roll up a thick jam of eggplant in soft disks of dough like a savory strudel, called scaccie, while all the time matching it to the Arab-influenced exotica of their cupboards: anchovies, olives, fennel, mint, pomegranates, currants, and pine nuts. The thin, Turkish eggplant with the bulbous end is the one they prefer, though you could use any shape for their famous caponata, the rich sweet-sour stew braised with celery, golden raisins, vinegar, and bell peppers. I can eat this fragrant, amber slop at any time of year, but somehow I always end up making it when the sun is shining, eating it outside with flat, chewy bread and maybe some grilled sardines flecked with torn mint leaves and lemon. If you make it the day before, its character—salty, sweet, and sour—will have time to settle itself.

Eggplant and tomato are excellent bedfellows; the sweet sharpness of the tomato adding much in the way of succulence to the bland flesh of the eggplant. Garlic and olive oil are almost certain to come along for the ride. What follows is a recipe I use over and again as a relatively quick supper, occasionally introducing mozzarella instead of Parmesan, and sometimes adding basil with the tomatoes.

I can live without nibbles with drinks (you might get an olive if you’re lucky), but from time to time the genre gets an outing. They tend to be more substantial than most, as I have a fear of anything that might fit the name canapé. Little rounds of toast piled with grilled eggplant in a lemon and herb dressing is a tantalizing mixture of crisp and soft.

I am always on the lookout for simple but interesting side dishes to eat with cold roast meats. A little pile of grilled eggplants, their smoked edges moist with a vibrant green dressing, wakes up yesterday’s cold roast chicken or beef.

What I love about this recipe is how well fresh Italian pasta works combined with these Asian flavors. It’s a true crossover dish, the pasta adding wonderful flavor and texture to the earthy and spicy notes in the sauce. Pork and eggplant is a natural combination that reminds me of Sichuan cuisine. Chinese eggplants, by the way, have a delicate skin, so when you peel them you can leave on some strips of skin for aesthetic purposes. This stir-fried dish is unwieldy to cook for four servings, so prepare it in two batches.

I tasted an unforgettable version of this dish on a trip to Thailand a few years ago, in the city of Chiang Mai, which is famous for its vibrant Thai curries. I love the mixture of aromatic flavors and textures here, and the way this dish is sweet, pungent, and spicy all at once. If you can find them, use Thai eggplants, which are a pale green in color, and have a nice, delicate flavor. Or you can substitute slender Chinese eggplants. This dish has a lot of ingredients but is very straightforward and easy to prepare.

Although somen is typically a summertime food, here’s a delicious, fragrant dish you can enjoy year-round. I love cooking with traditional clay pots, which add a nice homey touch. They also keep food warm and, best of all, make a dramatic presentation—especially when you lift the lid to release this dish’s seductive aroma. You can find these vessels (called “donabe” in Japanese) in Asian markets, or you can substitute a Dutch oven or any sturdy pot with a lid (enamel or cast-iron pots work great). If you’re using a pot, combine all the servings and set the pot, covered, on a heatproof dish on your dining table. Remove the lid with a flourish and ladle into bowls. You’ll see that I call for an udon broth for this recipe. So why not udon noodles? Chicken and eggplant are lighter foods that perfectly complement the lighter somen noodle, while the udon broth adds body and flavor to this hot dish. I use violet-colored Chinese eggplants, which are about the size of zucchini and cook quicker than the larger, more common varieties.

Everyone in Japan knows ja-ja-men, with its spicy miso and garlicky flavors. Think of it as the Japanese version of spaghetti and Bolognese sauce, a favorite at home and casual restaurants. This may sound counterintultive, but I love eating this dish on a hot summer day—its spices reenergize me.

Ratatouille (ra-ta-TOO-ee) is a popular dish from the Provence region in France. It’s a super simple vegetable-filled dish that makes enough to feed you, your roommates, and anyone else that smells it cooking. With tons of fresh veggies, this recipe is way healthier than anything you’d get at a fast food restaurant, and it’s so easy to make.

My boyfriend’s mother made this dish when my family was visiting and we all fell in love with it. It’s surprisingly simple, but the combination of flavors is amazing. She served it as a side dish, but we loved it so much that we make it as a meal now. Trust me, you have to try this recipe.

Because I am a vegetarian and the rest of my family is not, we are often at odds to come up with a dinner that will make everyone happy. Ratatouille (ra-tuh-TOO-ee) has saved the day more than once. I always make a double batch and freeze the extra in resealable bags. It reheats well in the microwave and is really good on pasta, rice, or whatever starch the rest of your family is eating.

Many years ago as a student at the University of California, Berkeley, I was invited to a dinner given by professor Laura Nader, a Lebanese American professor of Middle Eastern studies and sister of maverick politician Ralph Nader. Her dinner was simple and elegant, and the main course was a sort of Lebanese ratatouille. It was a delicious first for me, and contained many of the same elements as its French counterpart—eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and green pepper—but its seasonings, rather than being the basil and garlic of the French version, were more typical of the Middle East. You might serve the dish with rice and a simple salad of romaine lettuce, just as Professor Nader did so long ago. I would also offer some crusty bread on the side.

Moussaka is a quintessential Greek dish, and one that every American knows. Usually a delicious dish of layered eggplant, ground beef or lamb, tomatoes, onions, and, best of all, a thick custard topping, moussaka is one of my personal favorites. This version calls for only vegetables, a not-uncommon variation found in rural Greece. It does well in the slow cooker, but may be just a bit juicier than if baked in an open casserole dish in the oven.