#Bxllockdown Day 15
VEGAN WEEK – RECIPE 3
Australians and Americans call it Eggplant, the British call it Aubergine. Whatever you choose to call it, you can’t deny that it can be delicious with a few simple tricks.
The raw eggplant can have a somewhat bitter taste, but becomes tender when cooked and develops a rich, complex flavour. I advise salting, rinsing and draining, the sliced eggplant. You can even pat it with a tea-towel or kitchen paper. This not only softens it, removes the bitterness but also to reduces the amount of fat it absorbs during cooking.
There are different varieties of eggplant out there but in Europe, we mostly get the dark purple kind. A much wider range of shapes, sizes, and colours are grown in India and elsewhere in Asia.
One other plus about eggplants is that thanks to its texture and density it can be used as a meat substitute in vegan dishes.
In this recipe, I use the large purple “European” ones. There is no need to salt and soak the Eggplant either as we will pierce them and place them straight in the oven.
For this recipe, you will also need capsicums (bell peppers) to add more flavour and colour to your salad. I chose 3 colours but you can choose one single colour if you like. Use what is available to you.
WHAT YOU NEED:
- 3-4 Medium to large size eggplants
- 3 capsicums (red, yellow, green) – or any colour you like, halved, deseeded
- 2 ripe, but firm, tomatoes, chopped finely
- 1 bunch of parsley, chopped finely
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- Juice of one lemon
- 1,5 tbsp of olive oil
- 2-3 long spicy peppers (or sweet peppers), chopped finely
- 1/2 tsp of chili pepper (only if you using sweet peppers) – this gives it a kick but doesn’t necessarily make it spicy
- Salt & pepper to season
- 1 ciabatta bread (or any thick slice of bread- gluten free also OK) – sliced and lightly toasted
WHAT YOU DO:
- Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees
- Pierce the eggplants with a paring knife in several places (enough to let the air out whilst cooking)
- Then place in a tray and put it in the oven for 30-45 minutes
- While the eggplants are in the oven, prepare and cook the capsicums
- Cut the capsicums in half, de-seed but keep the stems (use it to hold when turning them over)
- Pre-heat a grill pan, then place the capsicum skin side down on the hot pan
- Cook them through on the grill pan, turning them over every few minutes
- If the capsicum collects water while cooking, don’t discard. Just pour it into a dish, you can later add it to the salad for flavour
- The capsicum should have a little bite to it, so do not over cook it. Overcooking will make it melt and make the salad very watery
- Once both the eggplant and the capsicum are cooked, take them out and place them in separate plastic bags (zip-lock bags will do perfectly)
- Seal the bag and leave it in for about 3 minutes or so. This will make the peeling off the skin much easier for you.
- Scoop the flesh of the eggplant out with a spoon, chop coarsely and place it in a large bowl
- Peel the skin of the capsicum and chop finely and place it in the same bowl
- Add in the finely chopped long spicy peppers and parsley
- Use a pestle and mortar to crush the garlic with 1 tsp of salt
- Then add the lemon juice to the garlic
- Mix well, until you achieve paste like mixture
- Then pour this over the capsicum and the eggplant, mix well
- Add in the chopped tomatoes to the large bowl
- Add the olive oil, salt and pepper (according to taste) then mix well
- Serve on lightly toasted ciabatta (thick sliced bread) or as a side dish to any main you like
Cigdem Sidney Ozdemircelik 