Today is a day filled with complex emotions — contemplative reflection, grief, anger, sad memories, wistful thinking of what could have been, wishful thinking of what should have been and confusion, to name a few. Instead of ignoring everything but the tragic past, I decided I needed to get into the kitchen, the place that gives me happiness and while the thoughts of September 11, and a heavy heart are not far away today, simplicity is the order of the day.  Nothing to weigh down the emotions more than they already are.

While I could easily find an excuse in the depression of the day and head into the kitchen to graze and snack on all kinds of wonderful food, keeping it simple would help me control my choices until dinner when the plan is to head out to a restaurant with friends.

When I see the word eggplant, I don’t think simplicity.  Sure, cooking eggplant is not a difficult task, but the shape, color, and tastes are not simple.  In itself, an eggplant — aubergine — is a beautiful orb of purple, black, white, pinkish or even orange hue and when done right, inside is a creamy white middle.   Simple does not mean without complexity and as the photos below show, this eggplant was charred, contributing to a smoky, rustic flavor.

There’s a bonus to this dish.  Not only did it take just 15 minutes to prepare, but it was fun too!  I got to play with fire.

Let me say right here … playing with fire is not a game.  This method of “roasting” eggplant is not something you should let your children do.  I did not do this because it was faster or easier than the usual way of putting an eggplant on a baking pan in the oven and roasting it unti the skin was blackened and the eggplant was cooked would have been.

No, this was about experimenting with a new method of cooking eggplant that I saw on TV one Saturday morning when the Food Network was running in the background and Elie Krieger was showing us how to easily “roast” an eggplant.  There’s no real recipe to it, but I’ve put one together below to help those that are hesitant.

I need to warn you again, playing with fire in the kitchen isn’t something to take lightly.  You need to stay on top of the process.  And this is definitely not something to do with young children.  It’s a good for time alone in the kitchen to watch ad little embers flicker as the skin turns to a charred coat and the vegetable underneath cooks in its wrapper and the bitterness of raw eggplant gives way to a sweetness.

It’s not important to remove every last piece of charred skin.  I like the smoky, rustic flavor a few little charred bits give the dish.

The flesh easily comes out with a spoon and the skin stays behind, like a deflated raft.

I didn’t add much of anything — just smoked sea salt and a splash of high quality extra virgin olive oil for this 60 calorie 1 Point snack.  I also recommend using Penzey’s Sunny Spain seasoning seasoning mix.  The salt-free, tart lemony flavors pair well with eggplant and when I roasted another eggplant, this what I used.

So, as thoughts of that September day whirl around in my head, I’m thinking about how life has moved ahead and will continue to do so, but with less tears and a more positive outlook on what will be — what I can do to make the future look brighter.