Dinner Before Dining

We've all done it before (ok, let me qualify that, if you are a vegan and reading this, then continue)... you're invited out to dinner at a place where your only choice is some steamed broccoli and a baked potato, so you eat before you go. Tonight, I was obliged to attend a recruit dinner for work at a Steakhouse. And not just any steakhouse, one where they bring out the raw meat to the table to show you their "cuts of the evening". This place went a step further and brought a live lobster on a platter to your table. Talk about an uncomfortable situation for a vegan. I even felt wierd using my steak knife on the vegetables knowing how many steaks they had cut into previously.

So my dinner before dining was using a new vegetable (for me): Thai eggplants! I picked them up at the farmer's market last week and have been trying to figure out what to do with them since. They're almost too cute to cook!

I decided to go with something quick and easy, Thai Eggplant and Chickpeas in Peanut Masala from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. I made quite a few substitutions for spices and cut way back on the onion while increasing the chickpeas. Here's the eggplant starting to brown...
I served the dish over brown rice sprinkled with fresh parsley and some edamame and potato samosas (from VWAV) that have been buried in my freezer for months (but still very yummy). Some of you may remember that I'm not a fan of eggplant. Thai eggplant seemed to have a milder flavor than it's purple cousins, not quite as bitter. The woman I got them from at the farmer's market suggested using them for pickling.... which I've never done before (so maybe it's time during this Vegan MOnth of FOod).
I think I added a bit too much water to thin out the sauce (the eggplants were taking awhile to soften). In the end the sauce lost much of it's flavor, so this wasn't my favorite dish. But, then again, it was light years ahead of what I was served at the steakhouse....