Ingredients: eggplant, onion, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, olive oil, salt.

Directions: Move an oven rack to the top setting and set the oven to grill. Poke whole eggplants with a fork once or twice and put them in the oven on a wire baking rack on a cookie sheet (eggplants which are grilled without poking first may explode in the oven). After a few minutes, take the eggplants out, turn them over, and return them to the oven. After a few more minutes, turn the oven off. By this time, the kitchen should be filled with the aroma of eggplant.

Meanwhile...mix a finely diced onion, several cloves of pressed fresh garlic, the juice of a lime, 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro and two tablespoons olive oil in a bowl.

When the eggplants have cooled enough to handle, place them on a cutting board, cut off the tops and gently remove the skins (if the skins do not come off easily, the eggplants need more grilling). Chop the eggplant into chunks and mix into the bowl with the other ingredients, mashing everything with a fork if necessary. Add a little salt to taste.

Cover and chill for a few hours. Sprinkle with roughly chopped cilantro leaves and serve with dipping chips, sliced bread or melba toast.

Variations & Substitutions: Shallots can be substituted for onion. Garlic salt can be substituted for the garlic and salt. Wine vinegar can be substituted for lime juice. Fresh basil and/or mint can be substituted for cilantro. As everyone knows, there is no substitute for olive oil.