Eggplant

This would be nice with any roasted meat.

(Gratins d'Aubergine, Mozzarella et Pistou) This makes a terrific meatless main course. It would serve eight as a side dish; simply layer the ingredients in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish, then bake and broil it as directed.

Suitable sides for the vegetables and pasta are grilled pita bread and assorted olives. End with baklava and fresh apricots.

Gaeng Pah Muu Most curries from southern Thailand use coconut milk. This one, from the mountainous north, doesn't, because the climate is too temperate for coconut palms to survive. Don't be intimidated by the start-to-finish time; the curry paste and chicken stock can be made days ahead. Once you have those components at hand, the recipe only takes about 1 hour to put together. If you prefer your food less spicy, use the smaller amounts of curry paste and vegetable oil. Active time: 3 1/4 hr Start to finish: 7 1/4 hr (includes making curry paste and stock)

Makedonitiki Melitzanosalata Editor's note: The recipe below is excerpted from Diane Kochilas's book The Greek Vegetarian. Kochilas also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Kochilas and Greek cuisine, click here.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

In this rendition of a classic antipasto, fresh herbs infuse the olive oil marinades, which double as dressings.

Arabs brought the eggplant to Sicily in the late tenth century and, in fact, the Italians once called eggplant radice arabica, or Arab root. It is an integral ingredient in Sicilian cuisine, and the variety of recipes featuring it — the most famous being caponata — is astounding. Sicilians often serve room-temperature vegetable preparations as appetizers. In this one, a caper-flavored tomato sauce "blankets" the eggplant.

Serve this with crusty bread to soak up the delicious olive oil.

What northerners call stuffing, southerners call dressing. Oysters and eggplant are a classic Louisiana combination, and the bite of cayenne adds to the authenticity. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

You can use either Chinese or Japanese eggplants for this recipe; both varieties have purple skin, a long, slender shape, and small seeds. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Silky Japanese eggplant and fiery serrano chile unite in this no-fuss frittata that’s brunch-ready, dinner-worthy, and wildly good.

Split open like a baked potato, eggplant becomes a custardy vessel for dinner.