Eggplant

Grilling eggplant lends it a smoky flavor, and this fun, layered presentation gives a wintertime favorite a summer makeover.

The smoky aroma of lamb grilling on skewers is ever-present across the Middle East. Here, the meat is flavored with traditional spices and a minty, sweet-and-hot glaze. Fresh figs and thick slices of eggplant make the perfect accompaniments.

This simple side dish can be served warm or at room temperature. To make sure the eggplant is not undercooked, keep an eye on the grill and move the eggplant around as needed.

Roasted vegetables and Italian Fontina lend this lush-tasting lasagne a more intense flavor than than you'd get with the usual spinach and ricotta filling.

Turkish cooks have long loved eggplant with lamb. Here's one reason why.

Editor's note: This recipe was created by chef Einat Admony for an Israeli Passover menu. This tangy salad is an interesting departure from baba ghanoush, and makes a terrific Passover starter when served with matzoh. You'll want to begin preparing it a day ahead, since it has to marinate overnight.

This fresh and sophisticated dish would be a delicious vegetarian entrée for two—just add rice. Look for curry paste and coconut milk in the Asian foods section of the supermarket.

"Rundown" (also called "oiled down" or "oil dong") is a classic stew served throughout the islands, often using saltfish or mackerel. Stories proliferate as to where the term comes from, but Jamaicans say "cook it down" when they mean to cook something for a long time. This vegetarian take is luxurious and satisfying. Serve this as a side dish or over rice as an entrée.

These pretty frilled-edge rolls conceal a spiral of creamy ricotta and deep-flavored Parmigiano-Reggiano. Roasted tomatoes and eggplant fulfill the promise of lasagne.

This starter, from Colby Garrelts, chef and co-owner of Bluestem in Kansas City, Missouri, is ideal for any summer get-together. For only 72 calories per serving, you'll get nearly 30 percent of your daily requirement for vitamin A, plus 4 grams of fiber.

Gemma Sanita Sciabica of Modesto, California, writes: "My husband's family produces olive oil, and I'm the company's recipe developer. We often hear from customers who love our oil but complain that they don't have the time to cook. Their comments inspired me to share my favorite recipes, which show just how simple great Italian food can be." Caponata is a Sicilian specialty typically served as a relish or side dish. It also works as an appetizer on bread rounds.

This classic Italian dish is said to have been created in the 1800s after the opening night of Bellini's opera Norma.

Food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez's southern Italian grandmother makes this dish every September. The eggplants get a workout, but the result is worth the effort.

Here, something savory becomes addictively sweet and salty. The confectioners sugar helps brown the eggplant, and panko adds crunch.

The all-purpose side: It goes with the lamb, the chicken, the lobster, and anything else you're grilling this summer.

For a heartier dish, add sliced grilled steak or chicken. Hoisin sauce can be found in the Asian foods section of many supermarkets and at Asian markets.

The beauty of this recipe is that each type of vegetable is cooked on its own skewer for even grilling. The tangy vinaigrette brings out the natural sweetness in the fresh summer vegetables.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Joan Nathan's book The Foods of Israel Today. Nathan also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Nathan and Israeli cuisine, click here. I remember with pleasure the Turkish Spinach burekas we ate every Friday morning when I worked in the Jerusalem municipality. The ritual was as follows: Simontov, the guard at the front door downstairs, would appear carrying a bronze tray with Turkish coffee and the heavenly, flaky pastries filled with spinach or cheese, called filikas in Ladino. It is rare today to have such delicious burekas, in Jerusalem or anywhere else in Israel. Most of the dough is commercially produced puff pastry, much thicker and less flaky than the homemade phyllo used to be. A few places, like Burekas Penzo in Tel Aviv (near Levinsky Street), which has been making the pastries by hand in the Turkish style for more than thirty years, produce a close second to those I remember from my days in Jerusalem. Various Ladino names like bulemas and boyos differentiate fillings and distinguish a Jewish bureka from a Turkish one. If you can find the thick phyllo dough, that works well. Otherwise, try this. My fifteen-year-old makes and sells them for fifty cents a piece. They are great!