when there's too much basil and some tomatoes are on the verge of rotting... and bacon

4 medium-small fresh tomatoes
2 strips bacon
1/2 of a medium onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 lemon
small handful of julienned fresh basil
2 springs fresh oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste (you probably won't need it, the bacon is of course salty)

Chop the half onion and garlic as finely as possible.  Sautee in a bit of oil on medium-low heat (don't burn).
Chop the two least ripe tomatoes into small chunks.  In another pan with a little oil at the bottom simmer these tomatoes.
Stir the onions and the tomatoes every couple minutes.  When the onions are fairly soft (10-15 minutes?), chop the bacon into small pieces and add to the pan of onions.  Turn the heat up a little, and fry for two or three minutes.  Then add the simmering tomatoes, and the black pepper.
Slice the remaining tomatoes radially, julienne the basil, and pick the leaves from the oregano stems.
Once the sauce in the pan is very thick, add the remaining tomatoes, basil, oregano, and squeeze the lemon half.  Cook just until the basil is wilted.
Eat over pasta.

tabbouleh, but sweet with cherries and broccolini stems?

juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoons rose water
1 cup pitted cherries
combine in a small bowl and let stand while the bulgur cooks

1 cup bulgur wheat
2 1/2 cups water
boil water
add bulgur
let stand for about half an hour
rinse with cold water
drain
cover and cool in refrigerator

1 cup chopped broccolini stems
pieces should be about 1cm square
sautee on medium heat in a little oil until soft but not smooshy

1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup julienned fresh basil
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons salt (possibly more, mix in 1 tsp and adjust to taste)

once bulgur is cool enough not to wilt fresh basil, add everything (olive oil, basil, salt, sauteed broccolini stems, sweet cherry mixture) into cooked bulgur and mix well

Eggplant Sauce #1

1 large eggplant

3-4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 large cloves garlic

~1/4 cup sweet chili sauce

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper powder

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 cup coconut milk

Peel eggplant.  Slice into ~1cm medallions.  Lay out medallions on clean surface, and cover liberally with salt on both sides.  Let liquid drain out for about half an hour.  Clean salt off with cold water, and chop into ~1cm cubes.  Chop or crush garlic.

In a large pan on medium heat fry eggplant and garlic with canola oil.  Stirring occasionally, fry for five minutes before adding a tablespoon of each of the following: soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, rice vinegar.  Mix in and then cover.  Every few minutes scrape and stir to keep eggplant from burning, keeping pan covered when possible.  Remove from heat once eggplant is thoroughly soft.

Transfer eggplant into food processor and add coconut milk and cayenne pepper powder, as well as remaining soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and rice vinegar.  Puree.  Taste it, and add more soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, cayenne pepper powder, and rice vinegar until it tastes strongly enough.

This is to go with rice or rice noodles, analogous to peanut sauce, I guess.

Rather than cayenne pepper powder, sriracha or some other potent hot sauce would probably taste better.  I'm not so sure that coconut milk goes so well with eggplant.  Maybe some other liquid should be used to thin the sauce to the right consistency, perhaps even a little water.  After all the eggplant fried in oil is rich enough.  Next, I think, is an eggplant-cream sauce for pasta.