CSA Mystery Veggie Challenge: Eggplant

If you've read my post about CSAs you know that in order to prepare myself for my first CSA this year, I have undertaken a Mystery Veggie of the Week Challenge.  You may be wondering why the need for such a thing.  Well, I'm the girl who every week stocks up on frozen broccoli, frozen cauliflower and some canned vegetables and calls it a day - then wonders why there is no food for dinner.  Hence the challenge.

Up until now, the challenge has been going well: zucchini quesadillas, kale chips, marinara spaghetti squash, sweet potato fries - you get the point.  Then I hit a wall - eggplant (the bane of my existence - at least for now).

Attempt #1: Not knowing what to do with it, I hit Allrecipes.com.  I decided on an Eggplant Grill Medley - cut lots of veggies up, add olive oil, lots of spices, marinade for a few hours and grill (I stir-fried instead).  Simple enough - yeah the eggplant turned out mushy, black and disgusting.

Attempt #2: I did manage to salvage the above mess by shoving the concoction into some pita bread the following dinner, but everything tastes good in a pita.

Attempt #3: A friend of mine assures me that grilled eggplant is the best!  Not willing to admit defeat, I bought another eggplant and this time did as instructed and grilled it. But this time, I sliced, salted, let sit and then rinsed to get rid of the bitterness.  Blah!

Attempt #4: I took the grilled eggplant, smothered it in marinara sauce, topped with some soy mozzarella and voila! I'm not saying it was delicious, but it is something I could see taking the time to make again.

Do I love eggplant now?  No.  Will I ever?  Probably not.  However, next time I see eggplant parmesan on the menu, I will be more inclined to order than before.  And that I call a Mystery Veggie Challenge success story!

Hurray!
The Hoff