Roasted Baby Eggplant and Sauteed Dragon Tongue Beans

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I just finished putting my mom into a car and sending her to the airport. It was the first time she's been out to visit us since we moved here and her first ever trip to New York City! We had a great time running around and experiencing all that my new home has to offer.

How does my itinerary look for a 1st timer to the city? Here you've got it:
Sunday: -cab to apartment from airport (so much faster than the bus/train) to settle in
-a bit of a walk around Chinatown and Little Italy
-dim sum for dinner at Nom Wah Tea Parlor


Monday: -trip to Statue of Liberty and tour of Ellis Island
-walk around and shopping at Eataly
-dinner at home prepared with ingredients from Eataly shopping trip

Tuesday: -lunch is a slice of pizza pie at Joe's in the Village
-walk around the Village taking in the shops such as Murray's Cheese
-cupcakes at Magnolia
-Museum of Natural History
-dinner at Pure Thai Shophouse
-Harvey at Studio 54

Wednesday: -quick trip to Coney Island (trying to miss the thunder storms!)
-lunch at Nathan's Famous
-nap at home
-dinner at Prune
-wander around the Lower East Side

Thursday: breakfast at Tom's Diner
(all of this interspersed with some Olympics watching while at home!)

Not a bad tour of the city if I do say so myself. Now that it's over, though, my body is ready for some more meals at home and not so many out. Time to get back to the summer veggies at the greenmarket. Here I have a couple of simple recipes to highlight the tenderness and light flavor of baby eggplant and dragon tongue beans. A great way to get your body back on track after a week of overindulgence!

Roasted Baby Eggplant
4 servings


about 5 c. baby Japanese eggplant
2 TB olive oil
1/2 t. smoked paprika
1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. ricotta cheese
4 TB fresh parsley, chopped
2 t. finely minced shallot
1 small clove garlic, minced
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Clean the baby eggplant and toss with olive oil, salt and smoked paprika. Spread onto a baking sheet. Roast until the eggplant are very tender and just starting to wrinkle. It may be best to roast about 10 minutes, stir and toss again, then roast for another 5-15 minutes depending on size of eggplants.
While roasting, mix together the parsley, shallot, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl.
Once the eggplants are roasted spread onto a serving platter. Dollop with the ricotta cheese Drizzle the parsley sauce over top to serve.

Sauteed Dragon Tongue Beans
4 servings


about 5 c. dragon tongue beans (or other flat beans)
2 TB chopped shallots
3 TB butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 t. sea salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the beans and the shallots to the water and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Pour the beans and shallots into a fine sieve. Rinse with cold water until the beans and shallots have cooled to about room temperature. Shake out and allow to dry a bit.
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter. Once the butter has melted and is hot, add the beans, shallots, and garlic. Toss until the beans are cooked through, about 2 minutes. Toss with the sea salt to serve.