Afghan-style eggplant in yogurt, easy and full of flavor

No salting or soaking of your eggplants required.

View in browser|nytimes.com June 22, 2024 Zainab Shah's borani banjan. Nico Schinco for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. A no-fuss, fantastic eggplant recipe By Mia Leimkuhler It recently dawned on me that a significant portion of my favorite, most-repeated New York Times Cooking recipes rely on eggplant. There's Kay Chun's eggplant dal and eggplant adobo, Alexa Weibel's eggplant caponata pasta and this trio of stunners from Eric Kim: gochujang-glazed eggplant, bulgogi eggplant, eggplant Parm. These recipes take this very dependable vegetable and add big flavor, with the eggplant mostly providing its soft silkiness — a winning formula any time of year. But right now, when eggplant is in season, I gravitate toward recipes that let the eggplant shine a bit more, especially since farmers' market tables are piled high with taut, gleaming varietals: stripey graffiti eggplant; plump, lavender-colored Rosa Bianca eggplant; cute little fairy tale eggplants. I'll get an armful of the slimmer Japanese eggplants for Zainab Shah's new recipe for borani banjan, or Afghan-style eggplant in yogurt. No soaking or salting of the eggplants is needed here, just a quick fry of the slices before they're nestled into garlicky yogurt and scattered with a speedy, spicy tomato sauce, pomegranate seeds and mint. "Go back for seconds of a dish that tastes even better when it's cold," notes Zainab. Given the temps outside, yes please and absolutely. Featured Recipe Borani Banjan (Afghan-style Eggplant in Yogurt) View Recipe → Right next to my farmers' market is a Middle Eastern store that keeps me well-stocked with preserved lemons, harissa, spices and more olives than any one person needs. The preserved lemons and olives will go into Nargisse Benkabbou's weeknight chicken tagine, and the sweet, citrusy and ever so slightly bitter black limes I brought home will star in this new black lime salmon recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi. Peaches and tomatoes have started to appear in markets. They haven't yet peaked where I live, but I'm going to grab some anyway for Alexa Weibel's gorgeous tomato and peach salad. The accompanying whipped goat cheese — that is, goat (or feta) cheese whirled with heavy cream and lemon zest in a food processor until cloudlike — is such a treat, and I can nudge any not-quite-pinnacle fruit along with a little bit of honey, as suggested by Ashley, a reader. I'm pretty sure it's illegal for any cooking newsletter not to include a zucchini recipe during the months of June, July and August. So here is Kay Chun's roasted zucchini pasta salad, which uses two whole pounds of zucchini. I love the added golden raisins, which provide caponata-esque pops of tangy sweetness. I've arrived home from the market with my glorious bounty, meaning: snack time. One of my tomatoes will go into braaibroodjie (grilled cheese and chutney sandwiches), a recipe from Jan Braai adapted by Sheela Prakash. Sweet fruit chutney, thinly sliced onion, sharp Cheddar and tomato between grilled, buttered bread? Done. And for this evening's dessert: Yossy Arefi's bountiful, beautiful summer berry stacked shortcake. It's basically a supersized berry shortcake, which just happens to be the exact size I want all my berry shortcakes to be. IN THIS NEWSLETTER Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Weeknight Chicken Tagine By Nargisse Benkabbou 40 minutes  Makes 4 to 6 servings Linda Xiao for The New York Times Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Heather Greene. Black Lime Salmon By Yotam Ottolenghi 35 minutes Makes 4 servings Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Tomato and Peach Salad With Whipped Goat Cheese By Alexa Weibel 15 minutes Makes 4 servings Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Roasted Zucchini Pasta Salad By Kay Chun 50 minutes Makes 6 to 8 servings Kate Sears for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Chris Lanier. Braaibroodjie (Grilled Cheese and Chutney Sandwiches) Recipe from Jan Braai Adapted by Sheela Prakash 35 minutes Makes 4 servings Julia Gartland for The New York Times Summer Berry Stacked Shortcake By Yossy Arefi About 1 1/2 hours, plus cooling Makes One 9-inch cake Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. Get it in your inbox Sign up for The Veggie newsletter Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties. Get it in your inbox Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Cooking from The New York Times. To stop receiving Cooking, unsubscribe. 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