Roasted Eggplant with Cilantro-Almond Salsa

Every week, Caroline Wright creates simple, civilized recipes for Food52 that feed four -- for under $20, in under 20 minutes.

Today: What you should make right now, with the season's last eggplant.

We eat vegetarian dinners a lot -- not by design, really, but because of the flavors I’m craving and what looks great at the market. A batch of pristine, fresh little eggplant inspired me to bring them to the center of the plate with this recipe. The eggplant are little enough to become tender with such a quick flash in the oven, and these flavors are hearty enough to satisfy any wary carnivore.

Roasted Eggplant with Cilantro-Almond Salsa 

Serves 4

1 cup couscous
?1 small garlic clove, peeled
?1 teaspoon cumin seed
?3/4 teaspoon paprika, divided?
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed?
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest and 1 tablespoon juice
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 to 6 small eggplant, halved lengthwise
?1/2 cup cilantro (leaves and stems)
?1/4 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
Yogurt (preferably whole milk), for serving

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

As a freelance food writer and cook, I first wrote this style of recipe as a column on my blog, The Wright Recipes, as an excuse to cook good food for my friends in a quick and simple way. 

Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute™ Meals grew into a cookbook that was published by Workman in May 2013. The recipes found here are original, made especially for Food52 to once again celebrate simple food with friends.

Photo by Caroline Wright