Suddenly it’s October and in the blink of an eye, it’ll be the holidays. Which means, for me, eating extra healthy now. That means as many vegetables as I can. A riot of color. With good fat and whatever protein I’m in the mood for, whether it be nuts and seeds, eggs, chicken, tofu, hamburger or lamb shanks. Sometimes it’ll be just veggies served over black rice, lentils or quinoa. Which brings me to eggplant, a vegetable I don’t eat often enough (but did you know that botanically, eggplant is a berry?). Here it’s so savory that I call it “umami”.

Serves 2

3 med Japanese eggplants (1#), quartered lengthwise, cut into 2-inch pieces	1 C rough cut cilantro, basil, or parsley (or a combo of all three)
¼ C extra virgin olive or coconut oil	4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar	3 Tbsp real soy sauce
1 tsp red pepper flakes	Obis One black garlic cloves

In a large skillet, gently warm oil over medium-high. Sauté garlic 2 minutes. Add eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, until cut sides of eggplant are golden-brown and skins are slightly wrinkled, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and red-pepper flakes and reduce the heat to medium-low. Toss eggplant to coat and simmer 1-2 minutes. Serve topped with fresh herbs and some cloves of Obis One black garlic, which are delish, fun, and taste a little bit like dried fruit.

To plate, choose other veggies that are your faves. In the photo above I steamed zucchini slices for 5 minutes. I scrubbed a raw, red beet and then grated it, and mixed that with 1 jar of cultured fermented veggies. I also put some bitter greens on the plate. Simple. Detoxing. The marigold was for color!