Aubergine Salad

Submitted by PalatablePastime

"This refreshing salad can be served warm or chilled in split halves of pita bread along with hummous or baba gannouj and a selection of brined olives."

 

• Ready In: 29mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 lb eggplant, peeled and diced
• 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup chopped red onion
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1⁄2 cup pitted kalamata olives or 1/2 cup pitted green olives, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup chopped Italian parsley
• 1⁄8 cup toasted slivered almonds (may substitute pine nuts)
• 1 -2 lemon (juice of, no seeds, amount depending on size)
• 1 tablespoon chopped of fresh mint (optional)
• 4 pita bread rounds (optional)

directions

1. Soak sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water 15-30 minutes until they soften, then drain and dice; set aside until needed.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet; add eggplant, red pepper, and onion along with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, and garlic.
3. Cook mixture, stirring occasionally, over medium heat, for 8-9 minutes or until lightly tender, then remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. In a large bowl, mix together chopped olives, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped parsley, toasted almonds, lemon juice, and mint (if using).
5. Mix in cooled eggplant mixture, tossing lightly (add extra-virgin olive oil, salt, or fresh lemon juice if desired to adjust consistency to your taste).
6. Serve salad warm or chilled with fresh pita bread, or alone as a salad or first course.

Reviews

[Tina and Dave]

Was looking for a recipe for baba ganoush, but very happy to have found this instead! The two of us had it tonight with salad leaves, smoked meat & cheese, but fortunately there's enough left to have with falafels & tahini sauce tomorrow! (Only nuts in the cupboard were walnuts which I can recommend!) Many thanks for an excellent recipe!

 

[flower7]

This was very good. I had to use the sun-dried tomatoes in oil so skipped step 1. Otherwise made no major changes - I used sliced red onion not chopped, half kalamata and half green olives, pine nuts instead of almonds, and just one lemon (it was very juicy - I probably could have used less than one). I did use the optional mint. Served with steaks and baked potatoes for Father's Day lunch and the family all enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Allisonsdinner]

Yum! Really delicious, and great new way to use eggplant. I left out the bell pepper and used oil-packed tomatoes, but still delicious. Next time I think I'll cut the salt back a bit and cut the eggplant down into smaller cubes. Thanks for a treat! UPDATE - a year later: I just made this again with some more changes -- I reduced the salt, omitted the paprika, used diced cucumbers in lieu of parsley, white onion instead of red, and pine nuts. Served with lettuce in a whole wheat pita pocket -- FABULOUS!

 

[Marsha Mazz]

I love this recipe. I stumbled across it while looking for a Japanese eggplant salad recipe that I misplaced. However, this one was a wonderful blend of flavors - mint included. Thanks for posting.

 

[AniSarit]

I picked to make this because it looked like an elegant way to make an eggplant, and that was true. The flavors are so complementary to each other, really creative. I made it as written, but no mint. Used 1.5 lemons, but probably should have used the other half also. I had special guests today, and this really fit the bill. Thanks, this will definitely be on my list to make when guests come over from now on. Step 3 did take considerable longer than 8 min, maybe 15.