Roasted Eggplant Salad

Is there anything better than a side dish that tastes better the longer it sits in the fridge? Nope. Nothing. You never have to worry about uneaten leftovers here.

In the Middle East, we eat a lot of eggplant. It’s such a staple in so many dishes that i began to under-appreciate its assertive yet delicate flavor. Since starting my own family i’ve began to re-explore the versatility of eggplant and how it can really create a fantastic compliment to so many flavors. This dish is really great because it’s a salad with a whole lot of “main-dish feel”, and it boasts minimal cooking time. Oh, did i mention that this dish is also incredible eaten with pita bread, pita chips or tortilla chips? I mean, come on…… what a dish.

Give it a try. Leave some love and your feedback. If you make this dish and post it to social media, use the hashtag #HHRecipes.

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 6 appetizer servings

Ingredients:

1. 4 long chinese eggplant. If you can’t find the chinese eggplant, use 1 large eggplant

2. 1 red bell pepper

3. 1/2 cup white onion, minced

4. 1 large tomato, finely diced

4. 1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced

5. Juice of 1 1/2 lemons

6. 3 tbsp olive oil

7. 1 clove of garlic, crushed

8. Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Char the eggplant & red bell pepper on the grill, on the flame of your stove, or in your oven under the broiler. The eggplant and red bell pepper should look like the skin is very charred. Once you’ve sufficiently charred the veggies (this should take around 30 minutes), put them in a paper bag or a ziplock bag and allow the steam to help loosen the skin (this should take around 10 minutes. This is the easiest way to remove the charred skin and reveal the flesh underneath.

2. While the eggplant & red pepper are releasing their skin in the bag, mix together the rest of your ingredients in a bowl.

3. Peel the eggplant and red bell pepper, once you’ve removed the skin. Dice the vegetables into small cubes and mix together with the rest of the ingredients you already mixed in the bowl.

4. It’s best to serve this dish cold from the fridge but room temperature tastes great too!