quick roasted eggplant + august snapshots!

my roasted eggplant with farro, pine nuts, fresh tomatoes, ricotta, and lemon

cuckoo! happy almost end of summer and who am i kidding that is not something to be happy about. i am writing to you from a coffeeshop in my parisian neighborhood of pigalle where the windows are open and it is cool enough that i am reaching for my sweater. sad!!!

to mourn the loss of summer, i am recapping a bit of my august here. sun! beach! fresh veggies! basically drinking olive oil every night for dinner!

biarritz’s plage du port vieux

i am fresh off a trip to biarritz, an idyllic beach town in french basque country (pays basque). oh how i wish i could’ve spent more than 48 hours there! i started my trip with ice cream for dinner and that basically sums up my behavior on this vacay. a #TreatYoSelf attitude was definitely fully embraced. highlights were my long run along the beach boardwalk, a visit with my travel bud liz to les halles, biarritz’s large indoor-outdoor market, and spending a whole day jumping in and out of the ocean! i’ve listed some of my favorite spots so you can bookmark them if you ever get the chance to visit biarritz!

les halles halles de biarritz, place sobradiel

eden rock café 2-4 espl. du port vieux

le surfing 9 boulevard du prince de galles

comptoir du foie gras 1 rue du ctre

hat shopping in biarritz

other than my biarritz getaway, i’ve been working my little tushy off for most of august. i’ve perfected my butter piping for the tartines i make every weekend and who would think that one day i’d be thrilled about piping butter! the things that come out of my mouth these days are starting to make me giggle. in the photo you can see the apricot version of our tartines at the ritz, served with apricots soaked in their syrup, toasted almonds, and verveine.

apricot tartines at les week-ends de l’espadon

after long workdays, i’ve been coming home and winding down with a bit of low-stress cooking. lately i’ve been putting roasted eggplant in everything and i thought i’d share my simple recipe. from farro bowls to pasta to just all by itself, roasted eggplant is a great summer to fall transition staple.

pasta night at home with roasted eggplant and tomatoes

q u i c k r o a s t e d e g g p l a n t

fixings

one large eggplant, cut in 4

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil, the best you can find

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

directions

preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit/180 degrees celsius.
mix all the spices and olive oil together, cover eggplant slices in mixture (skins and flesh!). and finish with drizzling a bit more olive oil on top.
bake eggplant for 20-25 minutes in oven. check halfway through and add a bit more olive oil if the eggplant seems dry.
enjoy! spices in this recipe are quite flexible. some additional ones i like to throw in are thyme, red pepper flakes, and a squeeze of lemon at the end.