Pasta Salad with Eggplant

Last night, I was imagining a nice cool pasta salad that would be full of lush, smoky eggplant, with something to highlight the eggplant's sweetness and something with a little crunch: long-cooked red onions. I put in some feta for heft, but this would probably be good without it as well.

Pasta Salad with Eggplant

1 globe eggplant, cut into 1/4 inch slices. (I skipped the salting and draining step, but it wouldn't hurt.)
1 red onion, sliced into thin, long strips
1/2 cup chopped parsley
4 oz feta, crumbled
1 box shell pasta
Olive oil
2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Saute sliced onions in olive oil over medium-low heat for about 25 minutes--until pale pink, sweet, and tender. Meanwhile, brush eggplant slices with a little olive oil and place on a cookie sheet, working in batches if necessary. Broil 6 minutes, flip, brush with more oil, and broil 3-5 minutes longer, until soft and browned but not burned. Let the onions and eggplant cool while cooking the pasta. Chop the eggplant and parsley roughly. Toss eggplant, onions, parsley, feta and pasta. In a small glass, whisk red wine vinegar with mustard and 2-3 tbsp olive oil. Toss with pasta. Season with salt and lots of pepper.

Serves about 5.