One of the quickest ways to cook eggplant is to sauté it.

This bulbous berry—yep, it’s a BERRY—can be challenging. But once you know how to cook eggplant properly, we promise you’ll fall in love.

The eggplant should be firm to the touch with just a bit of give. Also, this is the literal perfect season for eggplant, so if you're reading this and now suddenly craving it — go get some!

C.B. writes, ""I placed first in the Microwave Casserole category with my shrimp-eggplant casserole" in 1986, the same year that Crawfish Zerpa (elsewhere in the archive) won the grand prize.

For a long time, eggplant was my white whale of summer produce. It was always delicious when I had it in restaurants, but I struggled to get the texture just right when cooking it at home.

The eggplant should be firm to the touch with just a bit of give. Also, this is the literal perfect season for eggplant, so if you’re reading this and now suddenly craving it — go get some!