Roasted Eggplant Salad
This roasted eggplant salad is absolutely delicious and the perfect thing to serve on a hot summer day. The best part is that you can make this ahead of time because it tastes better as the extra virgin olive oil, eggplant, and herbs sit.
This salad is best eaten slightly cold or at room temperature. Use it for bruschetta, as a stand-alone salad, or as a topping for a grain bowl. You can also add it to rice or other foods almost like a condiment, it adds a lot of texture.
This recipe is inspired by a similar recipe Yotam Ottamlenghi's incredible cookbook, Flavor.
Should I use Vinegar or Lemon Juice?
We love both and find that you can use them interchangeably for this roasted eggplant salad. Lemon, of course, adds a very distinctive citrus flavor while apple cider vinegar add a slight sweetness.
It also depends on the season. If good lemons aren't readily available then use vinegar. Our tree has been going crazy the past few months so we're almost always looking for ways to use more citrus. If you have want some citrus but also flavors of apple cider vinegar do half and half.
Can I Use Other Vegetables?
Absolutely, in this recipe we like to add at least two zucchini, because it adds textures and sweetness.
Should I Serve it Hot or Cold?
You can eat this roasted eggplant salad hot, cold, or at room temperature. However, we find that is tastes best served at room temperature.
The recipe calls for a good amount of high quality extra virgin olive oil which solidifies when cold. So if you store it in the fridge make sure to pull it out at least 45 minutes before serving so the oil can become liquid again.
How Far Ahead Can I Make Roasted Eggplant Salad?
You can make this recipe up to 3 days ahead of time. It stores extremely well and tastes better as it sits. Just make sure to remove it from the fridge at least 45 minutes before serving.
What Kind of Herbs Can I Use?
Honestly the sky is the limit! We've made this with a mixture of parsley, cilantro, mint, basil, and oregano. Eggplant is amazing at absorbing flavors. Add your favorite herbs.
Currently our favorite summer combination is parsley and mint with a pinch of oregano.
How to Make Roasted Eggplant Salad
This recipe only takes about 10 - 15 minutes of prep. The rest of the time the eggplant is baking. Preheat the oven and prep one or two large baking trays. We like to line each tray with parchment paper.
Toss the eggplant and zucchini in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and lots of freshly cracked black pepper. Then add them to the baking tray in an even layer and bake until the nice and brown. You want to create a nice brown coloring because it brings out so much of the flavor.
While waiting for the veggies to cook make the sauce by heating more extra virgin olive oil in a pan with garlic and spicy peppers. You can adjust the amount of garlic and spicy pepper to your personal flavor preference. This is the foundation for the sauce. Cook this on really low heat to avoid burning the garlic, you want to slowly coax out flavors.
Add the herbs to a large bowl then pour the oil over the herbs. However, if you're using mint you might want to skip this part because mint can turn bitter when heated too much. Add the acid(s) to the herb and oil mixture and once it has cooled down add the mint.
Once the vegetables are baked add them to the bowl and toss until well coated. Lastly, salt to taste and add any additional herbs.
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