Autumn Eggplant

I think fall is my favorite time at the farmers' market. The vegetables are so beautiful in their purples and reds and greens.

Last week I selected a shiny purple eggplant and rosy red non-heirloom tomatoes to add to large white lima beans for this delicious fall dinner.

The eggplant and tomatoes are roasted with garlic and served over white beans with a saffron pan sauce to make a Mediterranean stew with a wonderful flavor. I served it with crusty rolls to sop up the saffron-flavored broth, but if you are feeling less decadent brown rice would work well too.

Autumn Eggplant

1 eggplant (about 12 oz)
2lbs tomatoes
1/2 bulb garlic (bulb, not clove)
2 red jalapenos
1 tsp honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup dried lima beans or cannelini beans, cooked (or 1 can, drained)
pinch saffron

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Wash the eggplant and cut off and discard both ends. Cut the middle into quarters lengthwise, and then each quarter into 2 inch pieces. Cut the core out of the top of each tomato, then cut in halves or quarters depending on size.

Pull the garlic cloves apart, but don't peel them. The chiles will be added in whole just as seasoning, so wash them but don't cut them.

Put the eggplant, tomatoes, garlic cloves and chiles in a roasting pan. Drizzle with the honey and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, basting occasionally, and draining off any tomato liquid if too much accumulates. (The other night it was too hot to turn on the big oven, so I used the toaster oven. Because the vegetables couldn't spread out enough, they started off steaming in the tomato juices rather than roasting. Every 15 minutes or so I drained off tomato juice (saving it to add back in later) so the vegetables could roast more than steam.)

When the eggplant is very soft, remove the roasting pan from the oven. Remove and discard the chiles. Pick out the garlic cloves, crush them, and put the flesh back into the roasting pan, discarding the skin.

Make a layer of hot beans in the bottom of the serving dish. With a slotted spoon, put the vegetables on top.

Crumble the saffron between your fingers and add it to the hot tomato juice from the roasting pan (and whatever you've poured off during the cooking). Pour the sauce over the vegetables and serve warm.

Serves 4