Roasted Eggplant With Garlic

A great way to cook eggplant with minimal prep time.

Step 1: Prepare Eggplant

Find yourself some nice Chinese or Japanese eggplant. These are the long skinny varieties, easily distinguishable from the globular Italian eggplant. Do not attempt to use Italian eggplant for this dish- the skin is too thick, and the flesh isn't as sweet.

Wash the eggplant, trim off the caps, halve lengthwise, and place them in a greased baking dish. I generally use spray canola oil, and give the cut surfaces of the eggplant another spray to keep them moist in baking.

Step 2: Season

Chop a big pile of garlic, or use a jar of the pre-chopped stuff. Garlic salt really won't cut it.

Sprinkle the chopped garlic over the eggplant to your preferred density, then drizzle the eggplant with a bit of olive oil.

Grind fresh pepper over the top, and sprinkle with cajun spice and/or a bit of salt.

Optional additions:
scallions, parsley, etc can be chopped in with the garlic
chili powder, cumin, oregano, roasemary, or the spice/herb of your choice to sprinkle on top

Step 3: Roast

Put the pan in a 350F oven for about 30-45 minutes. The eggplant will thin and curl on itself a bit, and the garlic will become a crisp and nutty brown on top.

At this point you can remove the eggplant and eat them directly, but I prefer to shut off the oven and let them slowly cool while I go for a bike ride. This extra hour sitting at low temperature dries the eggplant out a bit more, concentrating and mellowing the flavors.

Step 4: Serve

You can serve these warm or at room temperature; it's all good.

They make great appetizers when cut into segments and served at room temperature, and of course make a lovely vegetarian side dish for those upcoming family gatherings.

Comments

[susanchen2011]

It makes me drool.

[willow.narwhal]

Do you remember how many cloves of garlic you used?

[doomsdayltd]

 it certainly looks good the egg plant though I'm not sure how that will turn out cause I've never made egg plant before!

[ahappysoul]

Can't wait to try this one.

[kellyhogaboom]

This looks fabulous! I haven't tried this version of eggplant. I think eggplant is finicky to cook with but when you do it right, it is SO good!

[Punkguyta]

To be honest, I've never had eggplant.

[canida]

Eggplant is often abused, so make sure you have good eggplant the first time. I find asian cuisines do the best eggplant, so you might want to start there.

[Dummey]

Eggplant is definitely a worthwhile dish as long as you stay away from pseudo Chinese places that use bad eggplant and a gallon of sauce along with a pound of salt.

[robbierebar]

very cool! thanks for the great recipe and I am now looking for your other contributions! I found the garlic taters so far.

Garlic = Good

[canida]

Cool, glad you like it! I've got a ton of garlic-heavy recipes up; check out the dipping sauce for artichokes, and the similar one for tostones. I actually burned my mouth last week the sauce was so garlicky. Actually most everything but the desserts are pretty garlic-heavy. ;)

[westfw]

Wow. You weren't kidding about really liking garlic! BTW, I really like your style of showing two complimentary foods on a plate, and I think your "food porn" has reached a nice compromise between "gritty realism" and "James McNair."

[canida]

*grin* We fight over the garlic cloves from roasting tomatoes and eat them straight.

Thanks! I think that between the lightbox and the I'm feeling lucky button on Picasa that's about as far as I'm willing to go in search of better food porn, so I'm glad you like the results.

[clievers]

Yes, that does look tasty. I don't think i've tried japanese/chinese eggplant before. Just the big purple ones. Are those the Italian ones?

[canida]

Exactly. They're the big purple ones you see everywhere, at least in the US.

[rockyt]

Dang!! That looks so tasty!!!