Caponata

Caponata is a traditional southern Italian eggplant dish that typically includes eggplant, sweet pepper, onion, celery, olives, tomatoes, capers, pine nuts, raisins, red wine vinegar and fresh basil. It has a sweet & sour (agrodolce) flavor profile. Can be used as a side dish for fish or chicken or part of an antipasti platter or on bruschetta. Best served at room temp. A lot of different flavors and textures going on. Great summer treat.

Caponata might not be very photogenic, but in person, it's beautiful in both taste and looks. For the recipe -

2 medium sized eggplants  

1/2 cup of olive oil
2  cups of celery, sliced thin on a bias
3/4  cup of onions, chopped
1  Yellow (or red) bell pepper chopped
1/3  cup of red wine vinegar, mixed with a handful of golden raisins
2  cups of drained canned Italian plum or whole fresh ripe tomatoes - chopped
2  tablespoons of tomato paste
9  Green olives, pitted and cut in large pieces - use good ones like Castelvetrano from an Italian market, not those grocery store green olives with pimentos in brine - they have the wrong taste.
2 tablespoons of capers - rinsed
2 tablespoons of pine nuts - toasted
Handful of fresh basil - torn by hand
salt and ground pepper to taste

Cut eggplant into 1 inch cubes.  Sprinkle cubes of eggplant with salt and set them in a colander in the sink to drain. After 30 minutes, rinse them and pat dry with paper towels and set them aside.  

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large heavy frying pan, add celery, onion and pepper. Cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently for 10 minutes until celery, onion and pepper are soft and lightly colored but not mushy. With slotted spoon transfer to bowl.  

Pour remaining 1/4 cup oil in skillet and over high heat saute the eggplant in it, stirring and turning about 8-10 minutes until they are lightly browned.

Return celery, onion and peppers to the pan, stir in the vinegar and raisins, the tomatoes, tomato paste, green olives and capers and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, stirring for 10-15 minutes. Take off heat and let cool. Stir in pine nuts and the basil.

Serve at room temperature. 

I think you will like this but you need to make it a few times to get the amount of ingredients and the timing right to suite your taste. Like a lot of Italian food, this is better the next few days, so you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator.  Don’t re-heat it though just let it come to room temp by itself.