Curry + Eggplant = Deliciousness

I've been craving curry lately- ok I crave curry often and yes I eat curry often - it's my purpose in life.

We went to the farmers market a bit ago and purchased many many vegetables with the intent of having Dan's daughter Alona and her friend Nate over for dinner. But alas, the best laid plans oft go awry. We ended up at a local vegetarian friendly restaurant - with mixed success. I had a deliicious pumpkin hand pie and mixed greens but Nate had to send his pork back - too fatty.

One of our purchases was eggplant. I like eggplant but I'm not fond of recipes that require frying it in oil - simply because eggplant is like a sponge and I'm not fond of too much oil. So I'm always on the lookout for alternate cooking methods.

I pulled out one eggplant last night and decided to make a coconut curry eggplant with onions and tomatoes. I recalled seeing a recipe that roasted the eggplant first. It took me a few minutes to find it again but it was worth the effort. I started with this recipe and because I never have all of the ingredients or i have similar ingredients or I'm not a fan of some of their ingredients I usually modify it in some way. This time I didn't use the ghee, I added a can of fire roasted tomatoes instead of the roma and I didn't have canned coconut milk but I did have coconut/almond.

I really liked the flavor of the roasted eggplant it added depth to the dish and the roasting process was fairly painless so I'd definitely try it again. Now what to do with a head of cauliflower, a bunch of kale and 2 eggplant?

My original plan for the cauliflower was simple, roast it with a bit of olive oil and add a few grinds of pink sea salt and black pepper - which is what I did with half of it. I've got book club this week and I'm contemplating this sweet potato, quinoa and cauliflower dish. I'm intrigued because the cauliflower is cooked, pureed and seasoned to act like a sauce. With luck I'll have time to make it and the ladies will like.

Remember, if you have any great Halloween party appetizers send them my way - the party is coming up soooooooooooon.