Eggplant Kalamata Spaghetti

I love to keep my meals simple.  This is a very simple meal, complete with delicious, creamy eggplant and salty olives.  If you make the eggplant in advance, you can throw this together really simply.  It can be hot or cold, which is a great option for summer dinners.

Eggplant Kalamata Spaghetti

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 package spaghetti
• 2 cups chopped kale or mustard greens
• 1/4 cup diced pitted kalamata olives
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• juice and zest from 1 lemon
• generous cracks of pepper

1. Peel skin off eggplant and cut into 1/2" thick slices.  Lay over a dish towl and sprinkle with salt.  Cover with another dish towel and lay something heavy on top.  Leave for 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F).  
3. Toss eggplant in olive oil and lay on a baking dish.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping midway.
5. Cook spaghetti per package instructions.
6. Chop greens and saute in a large sauce pan on medium/high heat until wilted.  Add in zest from one lemon.
7. If you pre-cooked the eggplant, warm it up in the greens pan.
8. In a large bowl, toss spaghetti, kale, olives, olive oil, salt and lemon.
9. Serve into bowls.  Top with 1 tbs of pumpkin seeds and a few cracks of pepper.
10. Enjoy!

This is a tasty, easy dinner!

That ends the first week of vegan mofo!  What were your favorite posts from around the blog-o-sphere?  Did you hit the RANDOMOFO button?  I spent a good long time hitting it, and I found some really great posts this week.  I'll give a recap of my favorites at the end of the month.