I Ate Eggplant...And I Liked It!!!

So after I left you yesterday we figured out that dinner was spaghetti and meatballs, something my MIL was making. I realized that no veggies were a part of this meal, aside from whatever was in the jar of pasta sauce. I went rummaging around in our fridge and saw that we had about 4 different bags of zucchini hidden away in different spots. It needed to be used! I also found some cute little green and yellow sunburst squash from a nearby farmer's market, and a japanese eggplant. I was a little hesitant on the eggplant because i've tried it at other peoples houses and it was always a slimy flavorless mush. Um, can we say GROSS?!

Well, i've learned in the past that roasting veggies helps with the slimy factor, so i grabbed one and put it in the pile to be chopped. I also came across our bag of scapes, and pulled out a few of those as well.

Once everything was in nice little bit sized pieces (not too little, so they don't dry out) i put it all into an oven safe dish, and tried to decide how to season it. I was flipping through one of my favorite cookbooks and found something that sounded good, so i adapted it to what i had, added some other things i thought would be good, and there i had it!

Nava Atlas makes great cookbooks! I have another of theirs as well.

So, to the veggies i added olive oil, balsamic vinegar, s&p, and some italian herb mix. I tossed it all around together, and let it soak up the flavors while the oven heated to 425*. I popped them in, stirring about every 5 min. to keep it all moist, and roasted them for about 20-25 minutes.

When they came out they were SO good! Nothing got soggy or too dried out, the flavor was amazing, and (horror of horrors!) I LOVED the eggplant! It was kind of silky/creamy/meaty and had an earthy sweetish flavor. Even B admitted that he liked it!!! Good thing i have pictures, so we can remember this momentous occasion!

Will I be making eggplant again? Probably (and I'm not just saying that because we have another one in the fridge). Do you guys have any great eggplant recipes?

Speaking of purple things, while those veggies were roasting i went for a short wander around the garden and checked out my rose. The weather here has been alternately hot and sunny, and rainy, so the plants are growing like crazy! My rose tree that B gave me as a Valentines present about 6 years ago (because a rose tree will give me flowers for years, instead of wilting after a week! Aw!) has had tons of buds, and i've been enjoying it so much. I just have to go over and smell it every time i see it! Beautiful, no?

I also went to check on the plants i re-potted the other day. Everything is looking good in that department. I am SO beyond excited about my chocolate mint plant! And yes, it really does smell kinda chocolaty! I had never even heard of it before, but saw it the other day at the store and couldn't resist. I'm not sure what i want to make with it yet. It would be great in some sort of chocolaty dessert. What else could i make with it? Any ideas?

I guess this little guy is a new recipe waiting to happen!