Almighty Eggplant with Sumac

This is a delightful Middle Eastern salad of eggplant roasted in sumac, cumin, olives, tomatoes and pistachios.

Almighty Eggplant Salad from Ripe Recipes Photo: Supplied

From Rice Recipes - A Third Helping

Ingredients

Salad

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 eggplants cut into large 4cm chunks
• 1 tbsp sumac
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 preserved lemon, skin only (flesh removed), finely diced
• 1/2 cup (80g) kalamata olives
• 200g cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 cup (20g) fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped
• 3 cups (120g) rocket or salad mix
• 1/4 cup (40g) roasted salted pistachios, roughly chopped

Balsamic Dressing

• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp sumac
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. 

Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

To roast the eggplant and olives: pour 1/2 of the olive oil onto the prepared tray and add the eggplant. Sprinkle over the sumac, cumin, salt and pepper. Drizzle the remaining oil over and turn to coat the eggplant in the spices.

Place in the oven to roast for 20 minutes, then add the preserved lemon and olives to the tray and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the eggplant is well roasted. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

To prepare the dressing: in a small jar whisk all the ingredients together.

To serve: place the roasted eggplant, preserved lemons, olives, tomatoes and parsley in a large serving bowl.

Add the dressing and mix until well combined. Gently mix through the rocket or salad mic and sprinkle the pistachios over the top.