5 Spice Eggplant with Soba Noodles

Yay!
Two of my favorite things, eggplant with Chinese 5 spice and soba noodles,
rolled into one dish. I have been wanting to try this for a while and finally
got around to it, and I am really glad I did. You could probably also add
other veggies to this like roasted peppers, chopped spinach, and-or steamed
bok choy, for example, to give it more dimension, but I love it like this,
just simple and straightforward. Enjoy!

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Robata Eggplant Tacos with Miso-Sesame Coleslaw

The Japanese eggplant is going
nuts in my garden right now. I have enjoyed Japanese eggplant many
different ways. This time, I wanted figure out a way to keep it intact,
because the shape is so cool and versatile, while trying something entirely
new and different from my typical eggplant concoctions. Robata is a Japanese method of cooking long
pieces of food on an open flame, on big skewers. Traditionally, the skewers
are placed around the fire by sticking them directly into the sand or earth
that surrounds the fire.  You don’t have to go to the trouble of
building a fire to enjoy something similar. You can grill the eggplant, or
just cook it on a stovetop griddle if you don’t have a lot of time. In fact,
modern robata restaurants use a charcoal grill, not an open pit fire. The
charred eggplant, combined with the slightly spicy miso slaw make for an
awesome fusion taco. The sprouted corn tortilla is superior for nutrition and
it has a homemade tortilla kind of texture and flavor. I loved the way this
came out and will definitely make this a regular.

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