While I posted a full on meat shot the other day, I also made this vegan roasted Mediterranean eggplant dish that is one of my most requested dishes from my friends (especially for parties). It was part of my anniversary dinner--I got the produce from a local restaurant's pantry delivery service (a box of veggies!). I've never been a lover of eggplant (the flavor is odd for me), but I can eat this all day long!
@jgpittenger Ok, so you have to realize this is a rough estimate, but you can't really mess this up!
One large eggplant, sliced thin--if you have a mandolin that can slice them, that is optimal, but if not, try not to have very thick slices. One large eggplant makes a lot of slices!
Heat an oven to 350 degrees. Place slices on oiled baking sheets and top each slice with a little bit of oil (I don't even salt or pepper them, but you can). I bake them about 20-30 minutes or until they turn a little brown--you are just roasting them so they are cooked. You can also opt to flip the eggplant mid roast. The rest is where the magic comes in!
Mix together the following:
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp Sumac (don't worry if you don't have it, but it's really lovely)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt (and then add to taste if you want more)
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
6 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup loosely minced fresh parsley
Once the roasted slices come out of the oven, you mix the slices with this sauce. I usually cut the slices in half and do a tumble of everything when I'm in a hurry, but if I'm trying to do a fancy presentation, I keep the slices whole and layer them, spooning sauce on them as I build up a spiral. If you do it the fancy way, keep the parsley separate and sprinkle as you build! But I've gotten lazy and most times I just mix it all together! It can be eaten right away or chilled. It goes great with a meal or it can be a wonderful appetizer with some pita bread, cut up baguette, or just on its own.
This is my own recipe, so I'm sure it is missing some instruction, but one thing that is a bit annoying is that you may need multiple baking sheets. If you cut the slices in half before baking, you might find more room on the sheets. But the recipe is very simple in concept and execution. If you have sumac, you'll love it; if not, use some more lemon or incorporate some lemon zest in it. Also, I often cut up a tomato to mix in the dish. :) Happy cooking!
enticingly presented! I adore eggplant. and I adore your cooking. so I guess that means I have to try to make this. looks like enough for about 8 meals! hope it freezes well.
@golftragic hello Marnie I did a little research on this for you, I have a self interest in this too. In the Midwest of the US our Kosher salt is provided by Morton salt, their website suggests that for every 1 1/4 teaspoons of Morton’s kosher salt you use 1 tsp of sea salt. But this is where it gets complicated there is another brand of kosher salt in the US, called Diamond Brand, that is less salty than Morton...so my suggestion to you is go with a smaller amount of sea salt and season to taste from there. Hope this makes sense and helps! @darylo do you use Diamond or Morton kosher salt in your recipes?
@ukandie1 and I have never loved eggplant, and my brother and sisinlaw hate it, but everyone who has tried it when have I made it has said they love it. It's the sauce :)
Many thanks for clearing up that one for me Andie. I use Murray River salt, both grinder and flakes, great salt. Your advice re adding is, of course, the way to go. Very difficult to remove salt (or any other seasoning/spice either).
@darylo I love eggplant and all the other veg too, just gotta convince Les now. But I think she'd like this recipe. If not, I'll just have to suffer and eat all of it. What a hardship.
@golftragic I have been cooking since age 5. But at age 24, I had the benefit of being a recipe tester for a famous chef. I learned all the do's and don't s and while almost anything can be frozen, some things just don't work. :)
@darylo Oh wow, what an experience Daryl. If I have any really difficult ones, I'll be in touch!! Because I used to live a long way out of the nearest town (and had our own stock killed out at the abbotoir) we had huge freezer capacity and working in/out of freezers became just a part of daily domestic life.
One question for you, I don't know red pepper flakes, chilli, capsicum or ?? We call capsicums 'peppers' (red, green or yellow), but not sure what you'd call them.
Thanks Daryl, I suspected that was the case, but now I know. We grow our own chillies and I make chilli flakes from some of the dried ones at the end of season. So chilli flakes is very easy. BTW, I hadn't realised I wasn't getting your feed, must've been for ages too. Sorry, I've fixed that now. Same thing happened with at least one other person I was following. :(
@golftragic I have been absent from 365 for so long that it's a miracle I have friends still across the globe. No worries! Still loving the lens I bought from you.
@darylo I must admit I've been struggling with 365 on and off for nearly 12 months, there's so much else I must and/or want to do in each day. I've dropped out a couple of times and found life was far less time-stressed, but I did miss my online friends. Oh dear, choices, choices.
Colour me stupid if you like, but I've just noticed that your photo shows tomato in the dish, but not in the recipe. When do you add it, and what treatment?
@golftragic I just dice a tomato and throw it in. I think I mentioned it in a comment to Jane on the thread. It's my own recipe so it's not perfect. :)
@darylo No worries, I was more interested in whether you just threw it in once cooked, or cooked it. I'm gonna try this dish sometime this week. Watch this space.
@darylo I totally understand. I suspect my attendance will be on/off too according to what else is going on. I don't know where I ever found time to go to work, I've been busy all day and will be till tea-time - garden, greenhouse, dog-walking, washing, kitchen stuff etc, etc.
May 17th, 2020
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One large eggplant, sliced thin--if you have a mandolin that can slice them, that is optimal, but if not, try not to have very thick slices. One large eggplant makes a lot of slices!
Heat an oven to 350 degrees. Place slices on oiled baking sheets and top each slice with a little bit of oil (I don't even salt or pepper them, but you can). I bake them about 20-30 minutes or until they turn a little brown--you are just roasting them so they are cooked. You can also opt to flip the eggplant mid roast. The rest is where the magic comes in!
Mix together the following:
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp Sumac (don't worry if you don't have it, but it's really lovely)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt (and then add to taste if you want more)
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
6 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup loosely minced fresh parsley
Once the roasted slices come out of the oven, you mix the slices with this sauce. I usually cut the slices in half and do a tumble of everything when I'm in a hurry, but if I'm trying to do a fancy presentation, I keep the slices whole and layer them, spooning sauce on them as I build up a spiral. If you do it the fancy way, keep the parsley separate and sprinkle as you build! But I've gotten lazy and most times I just mix it all together! It can be eaten right away or chilled. It goes great with a meal or it can be a wonderful appetizer with some pita bread, cut up baguette, or just on its own.
This is my own recipe, so I'm sure it is missing some instruction, but one thing that is a bit annoying is that you may need multiple baking sheets. If you cut the slices in half before baking, you might find more room on the sheets. But the recipe is very simple in concept and execution. If you have sumac, you'll love it; if not, use some more lemon or incorporate some lemon zest in it. Also, I often cut up a tomato to mix in the dish. :) Happy cooking!