eggplant salad with yogurt and mint

I am not sure why, but I feel great.

You see, we had a series of unfortunate occurrences this past weekend. Our hot water heater's ignition part died, leaving us without hot water the entire weekend (and it was a cold one - in the 40's at night). Then, our new stove was delivered only to find that it could not be installed by us - required a professional certified person, like a plumber. So, no new stove all weekend. And then we found that one of our space heaters was burnt out, leaving one room to fend for its chilly self.

So, when I needed to make a dish for our beginning season pot luck and I couldn't grill (it was raining) and couldn't broil (no broiler). I improvised. I made this grilled eggplant dish, but I sauteed it. Worked like a charm.

Follow this recipe, by Mark Bittman, but instead of grilling (unless you have a sunny day at your disposal), chop the eggplant into cubes and place in a skillet with 1/3 cup heated olive oil and 1 teaspoon minced garlic and toss around until the eggplant moistens and starts to release liquid.

Tastes divine.