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Aubergine… Eggplant… Eggplant… Aubergine. Until recently, I didn’t know that eggplants were called aubergines elsewhere. Aubergine. It has a nice melodic sound to it. I like the word.

I’ve discovered I like Aubergine salad – a recipe from Domestic Cat. I’ve made it three times this month. Each time, I’ve been too hungry and tired to take out my camera for a photo for my blog. Instead, I’d gobble up the food very quickly. Until now. This time, I was able to spare a few seconds to take a picture.

In addition to the aubergines, the salad includes onions, green peppers, garlic, parsley, and tomatoes. Very simple, don’t you think? The third time I made this salad, I made a less sophisticated version of the recipe but it still tasted really good.

The recipe calls for grilling the vegetables, but I simply put them in the oven after covering them with a little olive oil. The recipe also calls for peeling the vegetables after they’ve been grilled and scooping out the eggplant flesh. I left the skin on and I left the vegetables alone. Also, I included feta cheese – an idea I got from another Domestic Cat recipe called Aubergine Gondolas. I added extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Delicious! I was in heaven! Thanks, Tülin!

To those celebrating Thanksgiving, I wish you a happy holiday!

Paz

Ed. Note: This gets better and better! More names for eggplant/aubergines: Brinjal, Badanekai, Mullugai. Thanks for the info. I love to learn something new everyday!

Aubergine Salad
Domestic Cat

Another classic dish, which can be found under different names across Mediterranean. Some versions includes tahini while excluding tomatoes and other colourful ingredients. Some gives the priority to onion and garlic, and some consists only aubergines, olive oil and salt. Even the most primitive version is delicious. The recipe you will find below is how we make it in our family.

For four persons:
3 medium aubergines
1 medium onion (sliced in rounds, thinly)
3-4 green peppers
1-2 cloves garlic (mashed)
2 ripe tomatoes (peeled and diced)
Half a bunch of parsley (chopped)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tbsp wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice

The amount of the ingredients are subject to change according to your preferences. You can omit garlic or the vinegar. But I should say that these are giving the real taste. Start by washing and drying all the vegetables. If you have an outdoor grill, or a stove-top one, that would be best for the smoked flavour. In case you do not have either one, just lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and cook the vegetables under broiler, starting with the aubergines. You can use a preheated oven at 200 C but be careful with peppers, if they get charred too deeply, it will be pretty difficult to peel them. Place grilled vegetables in a container with a tight lid, while they are still hot. Wait 10 minutes. This will make it much easier to peel them. Peel aubergines or cut them lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Immediately drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning. Mash them well with a fork. Peel peppers and slice them thinly on a cutting board. Add garlic, parsley and tomatoes. Drizzle with vinegar, sprinkle with salt and blackpepper. Generously drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Serve warm or cold with a crusty bread. Keep leftovers in the fridge, in tightly closed containers. Enjoy!

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