Eggplant Salad

What to do when you have an eggplant, want to make a light lunch, and do not want to repeat tried recipes? The solution? Making an easy eggplant salad that would work great as an appetizer or as a meal on its own.

I have several eggplant recipes on the blog already that I prepare often and some recipes that never made it on the blog because I did not manage to photograph them before the food disappeared... Hmmm, I probably should make those ones again!

I made this salad without following a recipe so there is room to play around with the portions and the ingredients. I was inspired by the salads that are so common in Middle Eastern cuisine and in the Turkish and other restaurants that I go to. Those are probably prepared with grilled eggplant but I baked it for this recipe. I also used a decent amount of olive oil but it can be adjusted according to taste, along with the other ingredients. I think that is what makes a salad like this so great, you can play around with it and make it your own.

Lets just say that it was a good thing that I got in some pictures of the salad, and at a good time of the day, because it did not last long. Eaten with some bread and cheese and I had no problem getting full.

Eggplant Salad
Makes 4-6 portions

Ingredients

1 large eggplant, with or without skin, chopped into cubes about 1 inch thick
2 plum tomatoes, left whole
3 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Fresh parsley, chopped
Fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper or to taste
Olive oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a tray with parchment paper.

2. Toss the eggplant and garlic pieces with 2 tablespoons olive oil and the paprika.

3. Cook for about 30-35 minutes and then add the 2 whole tomatoes to the oven.

4. Cook for another 15 minutes, the eggplant and tomatoes should be soft. You want to be able to stick a fork in the eggplant easily. If the eggplant needs more time, remove the tomatoes and continue to cook the eggplant until it is soft. (I do no think the tomatoes should get too soft for the salad.)

5. Remove from the oven and let vegetables cool. Remove the seeds from the tomato and cut the rest of it into small pieces. Also, cut each piece of eggplant even smaller into about 4 pieces. Take the garlic cloves and squeeze out the softer garlic so that it can be incorporated evenly in the salad.

6. In a bowl, toss the tomatoes, eggplant, and garlic with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, parsley, cumin, chili pepper, salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

~Rona

Taboule Salad (Kısır)

I have another bulgur recipe.  This one I learned when I was visiting Turkey over the summer.  It is a recipe for a salad that is common to the Middle East.  It is know as taboule or kısır in Turkey.  This is a common appetizer that you can find all over Turkey.  I took me some time to get used to the taste but once I did I found that I really enjoyed this salad.  There are a lot of varieties of this salad but some key ingredients are the tomato paste to make the salad red and freshly, chopped parsley.

It is made with extra fine bulgur and there is no cooking required to make it.  In Turkey, it is eaten as a starter dish.  You season it with fresh lemon juice and spoon the salad into lettuce leaves and eat the lettuce.  Since it is not cooked, it seems like an easy dish to make and it is!  The only challenge is that you need the spend time squeezing the bulgur in your hands until it gets soft enough to eat.  Once you get used to making this recipe, you will love it and make it again and again!   

Ingredients

2 cups, extra fine bulgur
2 cups of hot water
15-oz can of tomato paste
Small yellow onion, very finely chopped
4 peeled garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup olive oil

Lemons and Lettuce to serve

1. Combine the bulgur and the water in a large bowl.  Let sit for 5 minutes for the bulgur to soften.

2.  Begin squeezing the bulgur in your hands and try the bulgur to make sure it is soft enough to eat.  If not slowly add more water and squeeze the bulgur until it is soft.

3.  When the bulgur is soft, add the tomato paste and combine with the bulgur .

4.  Add the onion, garlic, walnuts, cumin, chili powder, parsley, olive oil and mix to combine.

5.  Serve with lettuce and fresh lemons.

Enjoy!
~Rona

Light and simple coleslaw salad

I love having a small selection of salads to eat with each meal. Some recipes I make are family recipes, others are inspired from restaurants, or magazine pictures.

One of my favorite salads to make is a simple sliced carrot and sliced white cabbage salad. My dad has been making one with olive oil, lemon juice, and sugar over the years. I have also tried to branch out by using fruit like pineapple or cranberries, adding purple cabbage and other attempts at being creative, all starting with the sliced cabbage.

I have also wanted to create a good coleslaw salad, one that isn't too heavy on mayo like many restaurant varieties. I am pleased that I finally created a simple coleslaw, using some mayo, red wine vinegar, and a little sugar. It is a perfect combination of sweet and tangy, but not drenched in mayo. I already made this salad three times over the past two weeks...always a good sign :)

Ingredients
Makes 8-10 portions

Small head of white cabbage, with the outer leaves removed, rinsed and shredded
3-4 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/3 cup mayo, more to taste
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, more to taste
6 tablespoons sugar, more to taste

1. Combine the carrots, cabbage, sugar, red wine vinegar, and mayo in a large bowl an mix together. Add more of each ingredient to taste.

Note: you will never use the same amount of ingredients each time since the cabbage will always be different sizes.  I always add the ingredients, taste the salad, and then add more until I am satisfied.

2.  Let the salad sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.  This allows the cabbage to soak up the liquid and to get a little bit softer.

Enjoy!

~Rona

Carrot Salad

About two month ago my family celebrated Alyssa's graduation with a luncheon at a Russian restaurant in Queens. Well, it is difficult to stop eating when all of the food in front of you looks so good.  But considering that you have all of your relatives around you, you also don't want to embarrass yourself by looking greedy and eating non-stop.  This is with one exception, I couldn't stop eating the carrot salad that was in front of me.  Seriously, it was like I had never eaten carrots before and I needed to catch up for all of the time I lost.  I think I ate enough to turn orange.

Now, it is not like I haven't tried this salad before.  I remember eating it in the past but somehow, this time around a new relationship was born.  Of course, I set out to replicate it when I got home.

I first tried to make the salad using carrots that were grated with a food processor.  While the taste was there, the texture just wasn't.  The carrots were too mushy when they needed to be like matchsticks. This is the salad with grated carrots.  It think that it does look pretty but the texture wasn't right. 

Of course, I didn't quit, I had to order a mandolin and try again.  This time the salad was perfect.  It is sweet from carrots and a little bit spicy from the garlic and the black pepper.  With the mandolin, I was able to cut the carrots so that they were thicker and more like sticks.  The carrots maintain their crispiness in this shape and give the proper texture to the salad.

Ingredients

1 pound of carrots, peeled
Juice of one lemon
4 large cloves of garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
Black pepper to taste

1.  Using a mandolin, cut the carrots into matchstick sized pieces.

2. Using a mandolin, slice the garlic cloves into thin pieces.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the carrots, lemon, olive oil, garlic, and black pepper.  Adjust the ingredients to taste.

Enjoy!

~R

Raw Kale Salad

In the aforementioned epic shopping and eating weekend, Alyssa, Nisha, and I took a quick lunch break to gather out energy for the day.  During our lunch, we tried a kale salad and it was really good.  This was the first time that I had tried kale before.

Later, while doing some grocery shopping during the week, I came across kale in the grocery store and decided it was worth a try.  Kale has a very cabbage like taste and texture, only the leaves are not as soft when eaten raw.  At first, I thought that discovering kale might be like when I discovered brussel sprouts and then could not stop eating them because it is nice to find a new, healthy vegetable to add to meals.

I decided to make a kale salad, trying to pull from the only kale salad that I had tried before. I looked up some recipes and found this and this recipe. I adapted them a little bit, depending on the ingredients that I had on hand.

There are several conclusions that I came to after making the salad. First, it took a long time for me to separate the edible leaves from the much harder stems. I am not sure if I was just having a slow day, so it is something that I will have to try again. Second, the kale is really tough at first but softened nicely after being left over night. I would recommend letting it sit for several hours before eating. Third, in the kale salad that I tried the kale was much softer. Possibly the kale was steamed for several minutes before preparing the salad. This is also something that I will have to try next time I buy kale.

Otherwise I am happy with the results of my first raw kale salad. Because the leaves soften with time, it is perfect for eating for a few days after the initial preparation.

Raw Kale Salad
Ingredients
to be adjusted to taste

1 10-oz bag of raw kale
1/4 cup of roasted walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 of a red onion, chopped
1/4-1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Cut the kale leaves from the stems and discard the stems. Chop the kale leaves.

2. In a large mixing bowl mix the kale leaves, walnuts, onion, oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and cheese. Adjust all the ingredients to taste.

3. Refrigerate for several hours until the leaves softened, then serve.

Enjoy,

~R

Black Bean Avocado Salad

Now that summer is in full swing, as in 100° full swing, I've already had time to enjoy some of my favorite summer time activities: beach days, barbecues, and warm summer nights. During Memorial Day weekend, Rona came home from NYC for a family barbecue, in which my dad grilled what looked like an entire butcher shop. He likes his meat. So to balance out the excess of beef and chicken on our table, Rona and I decided to make this delicious salad for a perfect summer taste and as a healthy side dish. It was quick and easy to prepare and is a great compliment to a hearty meal. 

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 mangoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 avocado, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce

About half of a small yellow onion, diced

3 large tomatoes, diced

2 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste

Salt & pepper to taste 

Preparation

1) In a large mixing bowl, combine black beans, lettuce, onion, and tomato. Toss by hand. Next add the avocado and mango and toss gently (these things get soggy so do this by hand.) 

2) Add the lime juice, salt and pepper and toss gently once again.

3) When the ingredients are evenly mixed, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. 

Next on the agenda...a recipe from my new Mediterranean cook book. I'm thinking paella!

~A

Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad

We discovered brussel sprouts around Thanksgiving and were completely surprised that this strange, miniature cabbage-like vegetable could taste as good as it does. Until now, our preparation of brussel sprouts has been really boring: mixing the trimmed sprouts with olive oil, salt, and pepper and baking them for 30-40 minutes.

Luckily, Alyssa found a recipe to spice up the way we eat brussel sprouts and I was able to try it.  It involves preparing the brussel sprouts raw and making them into a salad.  When eaten raw the sprouts  taste similar to cabbage so you end up with a cabbage like salad.

Ingredients

1/2 medium red onion, finely sliced

10-12 brussel spouts

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Juice from 1 lemon

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Soak the slices of red onion in a bowl of cold water for 15-20 minutes, while preparing the salad.

Start by trimming the hard root of the sprout and by peeling off the outer leaves dark green leaves.

Next, thinly slice the sprout and separate the pieces to create a finely chopped slaw.

In a bowl, whisk together lemon juice, honey, mustard, and a pinch of salt and pepper until the dressing solidifies.

Add the drained onions to the brussel sprout slaw and poor the dressing over the salad.  Add the parmesan cheese.

Serve immediately.

~R