This is such a great side dish to go with a grilled whole fish, grilled meat and or by itself as a vegetarian main dish. It can be served warm during winter or cold salad for summer!
Charred eggplant salad is a cooking technique I got from my home country (Philippines) we call it as an ensaladang talong, and normally we mixed it with Indian mangoes, onion, and tomatoes, but here in Canada I modified it to appeal to different clientele by putting roasted garlic, hummus, tahini and a drizzle of sesame oil instead of the tropical ingredients.
I can’t wait for you guys to try this one of a kind salad, and if ever you have any unknown eggplant dishes recipes to share let me know so we can try it too 🙂
Charred Eggplant Salad
Ingredients
– 2 aubergine
– 2-4 tbsp Sesame oil (for Drizzling)
– 1 each lemon and lime juice
– 1 whole garlic
– 1 Pomegranate
– 1 microgreen (for garnish)
Hummus:
– 1 c dried chickpeas
– 1/2 cup tahini
– lemon juice
– 1-2 garlic cloves
– 1/2 teaspoon cumin
– salt
– olive oil
– fresh parsley
Directions
1. Grill aubergine eggplant with skin on until soft inside and charred on the outside.
2. Set aside and let the eggplant cool down.
3. Roast whole garlic in a small ramekin, once roasted take off the garlic from each pod and set aside.
4. Take the charred eggplant and peel off the skin using two forks or your fingers.
5. Mix the roasted garlic and eggplant and drizzle on some sesame oil.
Hummus preparation
1. Pour the dried chickpeas into a rectangular cookie sheet, separate any unwanted grains or small stones.
2. Soak the chickpeas in water using a pasta pot with a strainer for 5 minutes, wash the chickpeas several times until the water is clear. Soak the chickpeas in clean water leaving them overnight inside the fridge. (make sure there’s plenty of water as it will absorb the water and double its size.)
3. Boil the chickpeas for about 1-2 hours using the pasta strainer in this way it’s easier to sieve the grains and remove peels and coagulated foam from the top of the boiling water, cook until it becomes tender and mashable.
4. Using a food processor, or high-speed blender, grind the cooked chickpeas well for 2-3 minutes at a time to avoid the machine from overheating or let it cool down for a few minutes and start again.
5. Add lemon juice, tahini into the mixture. (if you have the spare water from the soaking grain you may use it for thinning the mixture) blend well until you reach your desired consistency.
Put the Hummus dressing in the middle with extra tahini, drizzle some olive oil and parsley when serving and top it off with fresh pomegranate and micro herbs and enjoy!
Here’s some more eggplant and vegetarian dishes too 🙂
