Nightshade Supper

Another delicious summer fruit is ripening in the garden:


Our eggplant might look small, but this is a variety that is meant to be more rounded instead of oblong. Eggplant is the most beautiful thing we grow, I think. They are glossy and gorgeous. And purple. I don't think I would ever bother with a white eggplant. 

Also in this recipe are bell peppers. The pepper in the photo is also small, but that's because we are just not having a great year with our peppers. The latest ones have more flavor and body than the first one we picked a few weeks ago, but they aren't great. Good enough for cooking, but I think we'd be disappointed with raw slices. 

Did you know that eggplant and peppers are related? They are all in the nightshade family, which also includes tomatoes and potatoes — all the very best summertime garden treats, if you ask me. And all native to the New World. Take that, Italy.

Anyway, our nightshade dinner is roasted eggplant and pepper in a peanut sauce, served over Thai noodles:


This is another good goodie from The New Moosewood Cookbook, our go-to cookbook for for how to use our harvest. I am happy to eat meat, but I don't love preparing it, so I love this vegetarian cookbook. Fun fact: this cookbook was a wedding gift from a friend who is now kinda famous. 

You can find this delicious recipe online here, but (as I've suggested before), you should probably just buy the book. Totally worth it!

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