Roasted Eggplant

This is SO quick and easy.

Wash the eggplant.
Trim the top off.
You do *not* need to peel our eggplant. the Japanese eggplant has thinner skin than the globe variety.
Cut eggplant into planks the length of the fruit. Sometimes we just cut the eggplant in half...sometimes thirds. These planks should be about 1/2" thick, or so.
If you are not yet fond of eggplant, then I recommend salting them. This process removes some of the bitterness. These eggplant don't need this step if you are already a fan of eggplant. To salt them, you simply cover the inside of the eggplant with a coarse salt and let sit about a half an hour or longer. Next, you will rinse the salt off quickly (you don't want them to get mushy!) and pat dry.
Brush the eggplant with olive oil. It will absorb the wonderful flavor from the olive oil (try garlic or rosemary infused olive oil, too!).
Lay them on an aluminum foil or parchment lined jelly roll pan. Roast in a 450 degree oven for about 30 to 45 minutes...or until soft and nicely browned and caramelized. You can also do this on the grill.
All done!
You can eat these on a sandwich (with tomato, cheese, lettuce, maybe bacon?, etc). You can top them with a tomato sauce. You can use them in a salad. We like them with our 4 Pepper Sauce. I'd like to make a lasagna out of them. Yummy! I think I will try that this fall.

So, please give roasted eggplant a try....we think you may like it!