Ho-hum and La-dee-dah…

I have been uninspired lately. Hey, it happens to the best of us (at least that is what I keep telling myself). Maybe it has been this unseasonably warm weather. This August-like heat and humidity in October (yes, October!) has me all confused. Do I grill a piece of fish and just pretend it’s summer, or do I toil over a pot of stew and just say, “Warm weather, be damned! Bring on the fall already!”

I have turned into one of those wishy-washy shoppers for which I normally have little patience. You know the ones, standing in the middle of the produce aisle of the market, not a clue as to what to bring home with them, deliberating, while their cart stands empty and nowhere near them. The broccoli or the fennel? No, the carrots or the tomatoes? Usually I sigh loudly in front of these people, grab my bulb of fennel, then maneuver my shopping cart around them. But, I have become one of those deliberators. I have eaten one too many salads lately because of my lack of inspiration. Something had to be done.

So I packed up my empty, uninspired belly, and brought it to the Union Square Greenmarket, hoping that my mind would begin racing, and my taste buds would begin percolating. And it did. This is a truly weird and wonderful time to be at the farmer’s market. The pumpkins and coarsely-skinned winter squash are jockeying for space next to piles of late-season corn and crunchy romano beans. The crisp, fragrant apples are shouldering for a place near the slightly bruised nectarines and summer stone fruit. But what really caught my eye were these beautiful little eggplant.

Bright and diminutive, these fairytale eggplant were the first vegetables to really grab my attention, followed by branches of tiny cherry tomatoes. A last hurrah to the summer season, these veggies were just as stunning as they were delicious.
Simple, simple, simple. I first beheaded the eggplant, trimming off their green tops, and then gently sauteed them in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. They began to soften, their skin turning from that almost ostentatious purple to a blistering brown. I removed them from the pan, and put them in a warm oven, and brought out the lovely tomatoes. Setting them in the hot pan, the little cherries begin to sputter and pop, leaking out some of their sweet juices. I charred the skins, giving them a sweet, yet smoky flavor. Then I added the eggplant back to the pan, and got ready to serve.

The eggplant were tender, seedless, and almost buttery, like a new potato, and the tomatoes were so sweet, playing nicely off the deep, rich flavor of the eggplant. So inspiration struck again. Let’s hope it sticks around for awhile.