This eggplant salad recipe is a celebration of summer season produce! It is bursting with recent taste from grilled eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and herbs.
This eggplant salad recipe is what you must make after a visit to the farmers market in late summer season. It options a few of the finest produce of the season: eggplant, peppers, cherry tomatoes, and many herbs.
I like this recipe as a result of it has a scrumptious mix of uncooked and cooked components. I grill the eggplant and peppers in order that they provide a young, smoky distinction to the super-fresh tomatoes and herbs. A zingy lemon dressing ties the salad collectively, whereas tangy feta cheese and pickled onions take it excessive.
Flavorful, refreshing, and bursting with seasonal veggies, this eggplant salad recipe is a celebration of summer season cooking. I hope you find it irresistible as a lot as I do!
Eggplant Salad Recipe Components
Right here’s what you’ll have to make this recipe:
- Eggplant, in fact! You’ll want 1 medium or 2 small eggplants, about 1 pound. Search for ones which are agency, shiny, and heavy for his or her measurement.
- Purple bell pepper – It provides sweetness to the salad.
- Cherry tomatoes – Use a mixture of colours if you happen to can.
- Feta cheese – Purchasing tip: Skip the pre-crumbled stuff and purchase it in a block. It’ll have a a lot better texture and taste!
- Pickled crimson onions – I like the tangy pop they add to this recipe.
- Additional-virgin olive oil – You’ll use some for grilling the veggies and extra for making the dressing.
- Contemporary lemon juice – It provides vibrant taste to the dressing.
- Garlic – For sharp, savory chew.
- Za’atar – Learn extra about it beneath!
- Contemporary basil and mint – Aromatic and fragrant, they good this summer season salad. Parsley can be good right here too.
- And salt and pepper – To make all of the flavors pop!
Discover the whole recipe with measurements beneath.
INGREDIENT SPOTLIGHT
By no means heard of za’atar? This Center Japanese spice mix is one you must know.
The precise components range, however it usually consists of dried herbs like oregano and thyme, spices like cumin and sumac, sesame seeds, and salt. It has an earthy, tangy taste that’s onerous to not love.
It’s turning into extra widespread to see za’atar in common grocery shops, however if you happen to can’t discover it at yours, search for it in a Center Japanese market, in a spice store, or on-line. You can too make selfmade za’atar.
The way to Make Eggplant Salad
This eggplant salad is straightforward to make! Yow will discover the complete recipe beneath, however right here’s a fast overview of the way it goes:
- First, make the dressing. Whisk collectively the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, za’atar, salt, and pepper in a big bowl.
- Subsequent, grill the veggies. Lower the eggplant into rounds and the pepper into quarters. Toss them with olive oil and salt, and grill them over medium-high till they’re tender and effectively charred. Take away them from the grill, and chop them into 1-inch items.
- Add the grilled greens to the bowl with the dressing. Set them apart for five minutes to marinate.
- Lastly, assemble the salad. Toss within the tomatoes, feta, pickled onions, and herbs.
Season to style and serve!
Storage and Serving Options
This eggplant salad recipe is a flexible facet dish. It pairs effectively with all the pieces from cookout classics like veggie burgers to Mediterranean fare like falafel. You possibly can add it to a mezze platter or pack it up for a picnic with Caprese sandwiches. In terms of this eggplant salad, you actually can’t go fallacious!
You can also make this salad as much as 3 days forward with out including the herbs. When you fold them in, although, it’s finest that day, as a result of they wilt after they’re added to the dressing. Retailer the salad in an hermetic container within the fridge.
Extra Simple Eggplant Recipes
In the event you love this eggplant salad, attempt one in all these straightforward eggplant recipes subsequent:
Eggplant Salad
Serves 4
This eggplant salad recipe is a recent, vibrant summer season facet dish! Serve it as a facet salad with a merely cooked protein, or attempt one of many serving solutions within the weblog publish above.
Stop your display from going darkish
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In a big bowl, whisk collectively the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, za’atar, salt, and pepper.
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Warmth a grill or grill pan to medium-high warmth.
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Place the eggplant and crimson pepper items on a big plate or in a big baking dish and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
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Place the eggplant and pepper on the new grill and cook dinner for two to five minutes per facet, or till effectively charred and tender. Take away from the grill and chop into 1-inch items.
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Add the grilled veggies to the bowl with the dressing and stir to coat. Let sit for five minutes, then fold within the tomatoes, feta, pickled crimson onions, and half the basil and mint. Season to style, garnish with the remaining basil and mint, and serve.
