Cool, Delicious Eggplants

Eaten at room temperature, preferably the next day, the various eggplant dishes are ideal summer treats

The recipe was originally created for my latest book, for which my dear friend Penny De Los Santos shot this bold, absolutely messy, tomato-red pan!

I should not have called it Imam Bayildi, because I have added walnuts, smoked cheese, plus a topping of rich tomato sauce before slow-baking the stuffed eggplants.

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If you are looking for the traditional Istanbul Imam Bayildi —that has also become a Greek classic— you have to visit my my brilliant friend’s şemsa's food per se. She has posted the ultimate recipe, and notes that you absolutely need to make it a day ahead, refrigerate, then serve at room temperature the next day.

The other day, as we cooked my stuffed eggplants together with a group of our friends, I decided to photograph the dish again, hoping it would look more descriptive and inviting.

It is certainly not very photogenic; but I assure you it is so very delicious!

There is also this older version of baked stuffed eggplants, similar to the one my mother used to make often in the summer.

For this I again bake the eggplants and make the sauce a day before, then briefly sauté the onions and peppers and finish the dish just before serving.

Both dishes can be baked 1-2 days before you plan to serve them; refrigerate, then gently heat this second version. I assure you both taste far better the next day.

Now if you love eggplants but you prefer not to have to chop and sauté lots of onions, simmer the sauce etc. try this simple Oven-cooked Eggplants and peppers.

This vegan dish is delicious by itself, accompanied by fresh crusty bread and feta cheese, or to keep it vegan, serve it alongside garlicy pasta, or rice.

Before sitting at the table the other day, we started by treating our group to slices of exquisite Trikallinos Avgotarraho.

José Andres calls it “the ultimate seafood” in the Zaytinya book. It is “…one of the most incredible, intensely flavored delicacies I had ever tasted, rich and savory but not overly salty,” writes José.

You can get Trikallinos Avgotarraho at the duty free shops of the Athens Airport if you want to take home the “most amazing seafood from Greece,” according to Andres.