GRILLED EGGPLANT TENDERLOINS with BEET BLOOD and NINJA NUTS

SERVES 4

Fire up the grill for this baby. A little applewood smoke throws it over the top. The beet “blood” is just beet juice boiled down with sugar and salt to make a deep red, sweet, salty sauce that adds complexity to anything it’s spilled onto—like grilled eggplant. This bloody delicious mess makes a great family-style platter that hits all corners of your taste buds.

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

4 Chinese or other long, skinny eggplants, each 12 inches long (about 1¼ pounds total)

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Handful of applewood chunks or chips

2 tablespoons Kite Hill plain yogurt or other nondairy yogurt

2 tablespoons Beet Blood (here)

¼ cup chopped Ninja Nuts (here)

1 to 2 skinny red Thai chiles, sliced thin; or some chile flakes

Sprigs of fresh mint, basil, and/or cilantro, for garnish

Fire up your grill (preferably charcoal) to medium-high heat, about 450ºF.

Pour the sesame oil into your palms and rub it between your hands like a massage therapist. Now, rub those eggplants all over until they’re nice and happy. Season all over with the salt and pepper.

When the fire is ready, toss the applewood chunks or chips onto the coolest part of the fire so they slowly smolder instead of incinerating. When you see lots of smoke, put the eggplants on the grill directly over the heat and close the lid. Cook, turning every few minutes, until the purple color on the skin fades a bit and the eggplants shrink slightly, 6 to 10 minutes total. These cook up pretty quickly. The eggplant should become soft and easy to pierce with a skewer.

Remove to a cutting board and let sit a minute or two before carving. Slice on a diagonal into ovals about 1 inch thick. Arrange on a platter and begin your art project.

First drizzle on a little yogurt, then the beet blood. Adorn with the nuts and sliced chiles, then garnish with the herbs.

OPTIONS

To roast the eggplants instead of grilling them, preheat the oven to 400ºF. Roast on a baking sheet until soft enough to pierce easily with a skewer, 20 to 30 minutes. You won’t get the smokiness of the grill, but all the other flavors will pop.

For some spicy-sweet razzle dazzle, drizzle on about 1 tablespoon Mango Sriracha Caramel (here) along with the beet blood. Or just go sweet and drizzle on a little agave or maple syrup.