Italian cuisine is rich in various eggplant dishes. There are soups, pastas and pizzas with this delicious vegetable in it. Warm salads with eggplant are bright and aromatic, the Italians have come up with a great variety of different recipes.
Warm vegetable salad with eggplant and goat cheese
You can serve this salad as a light snack before lunch, or as a main course for a late dinner. You will need:
- 1 large eggplant;
- 2 red bell peppers;
- 2 yellow bell peppers;
- 1 large young vegetable marrow;
- 200 grams of goat cheese;
- A handful of lettuce (romaine, endive, spinach);
- 250 ml of olive oil;
- 100 ml of balsamic vinegar;
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled;
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme;
- 10 fresh basil leaves;
- salt and freshly ground pepper.
Instead of one young zucchini, you can use several zucchini zucchini.
Preheat oven to 170C. Cut the stem off the bell pepper, cut the fruit in half and remove the seeds. First, cut the courgettes and eggplants into 1 centimeter thick slices, and then cut each washer in half. Whisk 200 ml olive oil, vinegar, minced garlic clove, thyme sprigs and chopped basil leaves into a light sauce. Line a baking dish with foil so that some of it hangs down to the sides. Arrange the peppers cut side down, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and cover with foil to seal the peppers. Roast vegetables for 20 minutes. Put the finished peppers in a bowl and cover with cling film. Set aside. Spread the eggplant and zucchini slices on a pre-oiled baking sheet and bake the vegetables for 5-7 minutes. Cut the peppers into strips and dip in the marinade. Send hot eggplants and zucchini there as well. Leave it on for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the goat cheese into slices and place on a baking sheet and place in the hot oven. Let the cheese melt slightly. Prepare a salad by adding lettuce and cheese to warm vegetables. Stir and serve.
You can add small grilled cherry tomatoes to this salad.
Light Warm Eggplant Salad
You can also make a very simple eggplant salad with honey dressing. You will need:
- 1 large eggplant;
- 1 large red onion;
- 1 avocado;
- zest of 1 lemon;
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard;
- 1 tablespoon of liquid honey;
- 1 tablespoon of chopped oregano leaves;
- olive oil;
- salt and freshly ground pepper;
- sprigs of parsley for decoration.
Cut the eggplants into 1-1.5 cm thick slices, peel the onion and cut into segments. Brush vegetables with vegetable oil and grill until lightly tanned. Peel and slice the avocado. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey and about 100 ml of olive oil, season the sauce with ground pepper and finely ground salt. Combine warm vegetables, add avocado and season with sauce. Sprinkle with lemon zest, garnish with parsley and serve.
