Hi. My name is Melissa, I am 37 years old, and I have never had eggplant. I’d heard so many rumors about a weird texture that I stayed away. What a mistake. Eggplant is just my kind of texture.

After visiting the Madison, WI farmer’s market, I picked up two varieties of eggplant. Throughout the past week, I have been using them in different ways to develop my eggplant palate. Verdict? They are all winners!

Check out the delicious ways I enjoyed eggplant.

• Eggplant Parmesan-The batter was too thick (I think because I used oat milk instead), but otherwise the dish was a winner!

• BLT-Okay, maybe not really a BLT, but a ELSA (Eggplant, Spinach, Tomato, and Avocado). The marinade for the eggplant gave the sandwich so many complimentary flavors. I can’t say I cooked the eggplant long enough that it was crispy, but I loved it!

• Unagi-I took my own liberties for this one, but used the idea to make my own poke bowl. I marinated the eggplant in a potsticker sauce and added all of my favorite poke bowl ingredients.

Lesson from this journey? There is so much that I have been missing out on and no longer will my life be absent of diverse flavors and nutrients!