We all have stories of disliking vegetables as a child but as I got older my love grew, and I thought others did too.  After a message match with my best friend who still lives in Trinidad about lunch menus she confessed and shocked me when she listed off vegetables she does not eat.  Here I am thinking all trinis eat their dark leafy greens!

Melongene, Eggplant, Baigan, Aubergine, Garden Egg.
Call it whatever I was not tryna get down with it.  I don’t know if my Ma got tired of our turned-up noses when she cooked melongene that she stopped cooking it all together for us.  Until she re-introduced it to us hidden in stewed pork. 🙂

These days, eggplant is a go-to vegetable, especially since I’ve been on my ‘diet’, it’s very easy to purchase, cook and eat.  I bought Fairy tale eggplant at the farmer’s market before their summer season exit.  This super cute violet and white variation is good for quick cooking like sautés but laziness infected me and decided to roast them.  Of course I always have Geera in the house and used a bit of that to flavor the eggplant, onions, green onions and sweet peppers.

Notes:
– I love cooking in my cast iron pan.  Food gets cooked evenly, it does not stick to the pan and the pan can go from oven to table.
– This easy roasted eggplant dish can be made with other variations of eggplants.  Make sure to cut all all vegetables around the same size for even cooking.
– Great vegan side, dinner or brunch dish!

Total time to prep and cook: 45 mins
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

½ lb. of Fairy Tale Eggplant, sliced in halves
2 small Sweet Peppers, large even-sized chops
1 medium Onion, cut in quarters
3 stalks of Scallions, 3’ cuts
1 ½ Tbsp. of Geera
Garlic Confit–3 Tbsp. of oil and 4 smashed cloves of garlic
½ Tbsp. of Salt
1 tsp of Black Pepper

In a small bowl toss all the veggies in the oil, smashed garlic, geera, salt and black pepper.  Place evenly in the cast iron pan and roast for 15 minutes before mixing.  Allow to cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve Hot.