I recently got Alison Roman's Dining In at a local used bookstore. I wanted it when I was strictly eating a vegan + gluten free diet, but now that I am experimenting with transitioning away from that, when I saw it at the store it was a no-brainer.

This fried eggplant with harissa and dill is the 2nd recipe I have made from it so far, and I love it because it is super versatile. I have included a pic of the recipe because I burned my finger this morning while cooking and it is hard to type. (Not sure if that is illegal ??? or not but I'm sorry if it is)

So far this week, I ate the eggplant with an egg + hummus; with sourdough toast + hummus; and as an open-faced sandwich with Miyoko's liquid vegan mozzarella, sautéed spinach, sourdough toast, olive oil, garlic salt + pepper, hummus, and dill. And when I ran out of eggplant, there was still some of the harissa oil leftover. So this morning I fried eggs in the oil for breakfast tacos, made with whatever I had left in the kitchen at the end of the week (one of my favorite things to do is get creative with end-of-week leftovers; included on the tacos were Internet-Famous crispy potatoes with Lawry's seasoned salt, some peppers and shallots that were on their last lives, and corn tortillas).

All that being said, here is the recipe summary:

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant, sliced into ½-in-thick rounds

• 4 garlic cloves, finely grated

• 2 tbsp harissa

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• ½ tsp ground cumin

• 3 tbsp white distilled vinegar

• 1 cup olive oil

• ¼ cup fresh dill, coarsely chopped

Directions

• Combine the garlic, harissa, tomato paste, cumin, vinegar, and 2 tbsp water in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

• Heat ½ cup olive in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and fry the eggplant in batches, 5 to 8 minutes per batch. Add more oil as needed.

• Transfer eggplant to a plate lined with paper towel, and season.

• After the last batch, add the harissa mixture to the skillet, and remove from the heat. Add the eggplant and toss to coat. Scatter the dill on top and serve.