Lycopene Stew

This week I am up to the neck in obligations... but somehow I couldn't resist making a giant pot of eggplant mush.

As usual with eggplant mush: tastes delicious, looks strangely nasty.

This eggplant salad is inspired by the so-called "house eggplant" at Falafel King, a Mediterranean chain in Denver and Boulder. I frequented Falafel King in middle school and I recall that the pita sandwiches -- which always broke at the bottom and bled copious amounts of tomato sauce and tahini dressing -- reminded me of eggplant sloppy joes.

The key to this salad is a long cooking time, allowing the tomato paste to become richer in flavor. Note that I made a double recipe so that I'll have plenty left over -- the massive quantity you see in the photos is completely unnecessary.

Ingredients
1 medium/large eggplant
1 large or 2 small onions
1 red bell pepper or 2 slender sweet peppers
1/2 jalapeño
3 cloves garlic (no joke)
1 1/2 small cans tomato paste
salt, pepper, cumin, coriander
1 pinch sugar
lots of olive oil

Cut the onions and peppers into thin slivers. Saute in olive oil until somewhat softened.  Meanwhile, cut eggplant into slivers.

Ancient sweet peppers are kind of cool-looking.

These large chunks of jalapeños are somewhat ballsy -- you can dice them if you wish.

You can't tell from this picture, but this eggplant is 14" long. I've nicknamed it "Dolly."

Fries! Or... not.

Add tomato paste, crushed garlic, and a generous swoop of olive oil to the onions. Saute the tomato paste until it darkens, stirring frequently to avoid burning, ca. 10 minutes.

Mmm.  <--- brilliant caption

Add eggplant slivers and coat with tomato mixture. Add about 2 cups water and cover.

Cook on medium until eggplants gradually reduce down and soften. Stir relatively frequently and add water as necessary. The sauce should have the approximate consistency of marinara. When the eggplants are so soft that you can cut through them with a fork, the salad is done.

About 10 minutes in.

About 30 minutes in. Note that it will take less time if you avoid using giant genetically-modified eggplants.

Turn off heat. Season with salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar, and desired spices -- I suggest cumin and coriander, but you can experiment as you wish. Chopped fresh parsley couldn't hurt, either.

Serving suggestions: eat inside falafel sandwiches (of course), on rice or couscous, on bread as an appetizer, or straight out of the bowl. It's lycopene-lickin' good.