For the sandwiches:

Peel and slice an eggplant into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Sprinkle with sea salt and let them exude excess water for a few minutes. Soak this up with a paper towel, flip them over, and repeat on the other side. Then brush them with a little olive oil, and grill for 5 minutes on each side.

Slice some ciabatta bread and grill for a couple minutes on each side. Then assemble the sandwiches- ciabatta bread, fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, grilled eggplant, and sauce. Superb.

The wilted spinach was super easy. I bought the spinach in the Boulder Farmers’ Market, and it of course looks different from the spinach you can usually purchase in Whole Foods. Also, it is now loud and clear that spinach should be consumed cooked, or at least partially heated up, to benefit from its nutrients while not allowing the spinach to leach nutrients from your body. Say goodbye to raw spinach…

I rinsed the spinach and threw it in a sauté pan, still wet, added some chopped farmers’ market tomato, and a fire roasted pepper (which I always keep in the pantry), some salt, and pepper. I let this cook until the spinach softened. No oil. No nothing. Took it off the heat, and plated it.

The element that ties this all together is the dressing.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp Evaporated Cane Juice
• 1 TB Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1 TB Honey Mustard
• a pinch of yellow Curry powder
• a sprinkle of cinnamon