My favorite way to eat is as Eggplant Caviar (online recipe) (So-called because that's what it looks like), though I'm a real garlic lover, so I don't think one clove is nearly enough. Also, I'd be tempted to throw in some hot pepper (and I'm one of the cilantro-impaired).

In that recipe, it's prepared as a dip (and what I was thinking for the scales of artichoke). But that same preparation is really good served over pasta, as a sauce.

(oh, and another note: cooked eggplant freezes be-a-ut-ifly, so you can make up massive recipes with eggplant, and then freeze them in one or two portion sizes, and keep them for a year.)