Elizabeth David's Ratatouille en Salade

So I'm reading Elizabeth David for the Chow Cookbook of the Month project. She had quite the life. Just a few highlights:
-ran away from home to become an actress
-eloped with a married lover and toured the Mediterranean on a sailboat
-arrested for being a British spy in Italy and deported to Greece
-after German invasion of Greece, evacuated by military to Egypt
-worked as a librarian in Cairo until she married a British officer and moved to India
-moved back to London, published 11 books on food and cooking that introduced the English to then exotic ingredients like olive oil, garlic, saffron and zucchini

Cool, huh. I bet she could take Martha Stewart anyday.

Anyhoo, she has a great Ratatouille recipe that I had to share-

Ratatouille en Salade
adapted from Elizabeth David Classics

4 japanese eggplant
2 tomatoes
4 small shallots
1 clove garlic
6 coriander seeds
1 yellow bell pepper

Cut the eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes, salt and place in a colander to drain moisture. Dice the tomatoes, shallots and bell pepper. Saute the shallots for a couple minutes until soft, add the eggplant, bell pepper and 1 clove garlic (whole), cover and cook for 30 minutes. Now that everything is nice and stewy, add in the tomatoes and coriander seeds and let cook uncovered until the tomatoes "melt." Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot, or let cool and serve room temp. I served it hot (I am impatient). I didn't miss the zucchini that you often see in ratatouille, the dish was sweeter without it, and went so well with fresh basil. A perfect summer dish!