Soba Noodles with Roasted Eggplant

 I LOVE this type of noodle! It's not the pasta Gabe enjoys but the recipe sounded good and I wanted to give it a try.

Picked up a eggplant at the local farmers market. A very nice man was giving out samples of melons and I sampled my share and felt I needed to buy something from him and the eggplants were a good price so I picked up a few.

1 medium eggplant (about 1 pound)
8 ounces soba noodles
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon peanut oil, divided(used sesame oil)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed(didn't use)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt(didn't use)
3-1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons Thai-style chili sauce
4 medium carrots, grated
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 cup diced English (hot house) cucumber( used regular cucumber)

1. Preheat  broiler. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise and place, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Broil until skin is blackened and flesh is soft, about 10 minutes. Set aside until cool.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cool water. Extract as much water as possible, then place in a large bowl with 1 teaspoon peanut oil.
3. Mash garlic and salt together to form a paste. Place in small bowl and add vinegar, tamari/soy sauce, ginger, brown sugar, chili sauce and remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil. Whisk until the above is well-blended.
4. Peel the eggplant and discard the skin. Chopped  the flesh in the food processor. Add the eggplant, carrots and sesame seeds to the noodles, then add the dressing and toss well. Just before serving, garnish with cucumber

I really liked this, Gabe was so so. I'll make it again. When did he say the next diving trip was? Recipe was adapted from Here