Eggplant Recipe

Last year, I harvested only one eggplant from my garden. How disappointing!  It's not that I'm a crazy eggplant lover, but when you spend time planting, weeding, fertilizing and watering you'd like to get something for your labors.

This year, my 4 little plants are prolific!  I've picked and cooked up 4 and have another 8 on the plants. My family is not overly keen on eggplant, but they're brave enough to try any recipe once.  Here's one we liked

Eggplant Caviar*
Real Simple, May, 2010
(I'm not sure why "caviar" is in the name.)

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic
2 T. chopped, flat leaf parsley
1 T. olive oil
1 t. red wine vinegar
1 T mayonnaise (opt.)
Kosher salt and black pepper
Pumpernickely bread and cut up vegetables

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Using a fork, prick the eggplant all over.  Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast until very tender, 50 to 60 minutes
Whe the eggplant is cool enought to handle, halve it lengthwise and scrape out the flesh, discarding the skin.  Finely chop the flesh and transfer it to a large bowl.
Add the onion, garlic, parsely, oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, salt and pepper and mix to combine.  Sprinkle with additional parsely and serve with the bread and vegetables.

*Note:  I rarely make a recipe as it appears in a book or magazine.  What's the fun in that?  Here are the adjustments I made:
2 large eggplants
1 medium onion & 3 cloves of garlic sauteed in 1 T. olive oil
1 handful of dried parsley
A splash and a drizzle of apple cider vinegar
2 medium globs of mayonnaise
Gluten-free crackers

Bake the eggplants for 60 - 75 minutes on parchment paper on a large baking sheet, turning every 20 minutes.  After scraping the meat of the eggplant from the skin, mix the other ingredients (excluding the crackers) with a mixer.  The result is a nice, creamy dip for crackers, etc.