Summer Veggie Pasta Salad with Japanese Eggplant

While this recipe isn't that innovative, and most folks already have a go-to-pasta salad, this one was so good and colorful I wanted to share it. If nothing else I wanted it documented to make it again myself.

Check out today's haul:

This recipe used many of the veggies I harvested this morning. Japanese eggplant is my new favorite vegetable. It's very thin skinned compared to western varieties, so there's no need to peel it. Also it's seedless and not very bitter like the kind you usually see in the grocery store. I've been harvesting them regularly after my pollination experiment. I've mostly been sautéing them with a little garlic and olive oil, but they're also especially good on the grill, or in stir fries with a little soy sauce and sesame oil.

SUMMER VEGGIE PASTA SALAD 
1 box rainbow penne pasta
1 zucchini, sliced and quartered
1 yellow squash, sliced and quartered
1  japanese eggplant sliced and quartered
Large handful of french green beans, trimmed
1 cloves of garlic
Large handful of lettuce/greens of your choice (I used spinach, baby chard, and mache)
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
salt/pepper
Shredded italian cheese
Splash of olive juice

Boil pasta, drain, and set aside in a large bowl to cool a bit. In the mean time, chop all your veggies. Saute one clove of garlic and the eggplant first, as it needs a little more time to cook. After five minutes add the zucchini, yellow squash, and green beans. Go ahead and add the handful of lettuce, tomatoes, remaining garlic clove, and fresh basil to the bowl with the pasta. Once the veggies have softened, but still have a bite to them, add them straight into the bowl with everything else. This causes the lettuce to wilt slightly, which I like, especially using a sturdier green like spinach or baby swiss chard. If you don't like warm salads, wait for the veggies to cool before mixing with the lettuce. Top with cheese, salt & pepper, and a little extra olive oil. I tossed in a splash of olive juice at the end, but this isn't required. You could try adding lemon or a light vinegar to give it some acid as well.

Oops! I forgot to add the cherry tomatoes!