Vegetable salads are an excellent appetizer and a good substitute for traditional garnish for meat, poultry, fish. Among the interesting options is a mix of zucchini and eggplant, such a salad can be made just before use or harvested for the winter.
Zucchini and eggplant: advantages and features of making salads
Vegetable salads are varied. The most delicious dishes are made from several ingredients, harmoniously combined with each other. Successful duets include eggplant and zucchini. The former give the dish richness and a pleasant bitter-spicy taste, the latter are responsible for freshness and juiciness. Zucchini and eggplant salads can be prepared just before meals or canned for the winter.
Zucchini is added to salads fresh, stewed or toasted in a pan, eggplants must be fried. To remove excess bitterness, before cooking, they are covered with salt or soaked for half an hour in salted water. After that, the pieces of eggplant must be rinsed and dried thoroughly. Salting helps to release excess moisture, while frying the eggplants will not absorb too much oil.
For salad, it is better to choose young eggplants and zucchini. They have a softer flesh and a softer skin that does not need to be removed. Vegetables are cut into medium-sized pieces: thin strips, circles or slices.
You can add other vegetables to the salad: fresh carrots, ripe fleshy tomatoes, sweet or hot peppers. Some recipes contain more satisfying ingredients: olives, mushrooms, ham or boiled tongue. Soy sauce, vegetable oil, balsamic vinegar, or mustard mixed in an arbitrary proportion are suitable as a dressing.
If the salad is supposed to be prepared for the winter, it is preferable to fry all the vegetables that make up the composition. Salt and vinegar are used as preservatives; granulated sugar will help remove excess acid. It is not necessary to sterilize the salad; the ambassadors of opening the jar should be stored in the refrigerator. The prepared salad is served as a cold appetizer, used to make homemade sauces for meat and pasta, soups and vegetable stews.
Warm vegetable salad: a step-by-step recipe
Instead of pasta, rice or potatoes, you can make a delicious and healthy side dish of eggplant and zucchini. There are few calories in it, but the nutritional value is high. The dish is prepared very quickly, you need to eat it immediately after mixing. The proportions of salt and soy sauce are adjusted according to taste. If the salad is cold, you can warm it up slightly in the microwave before serving.
Ingredients:
- 1 young zucchini;
- 1 large eggplant;
- 1 tbsp. l. extra virgin olive oil;
- 350 g ripe fleshy tomatoes;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- a few leaves of fresh basil and green onion feathers;
- 3 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
- salt to taste;
- refined vegetable oil for frying.
Wash and dry the vegetables. Cut the eggplants into small pieces, remove the tails, cover with salt and leave for half an hour. Cut the courgettes into small pieces. If the vegetables are young, you do not need to peel them.
Heat 2 tbsp in a skillet. l. odorless vegetable oil, fry the eggplants, having previously brushed off the salt. The vegetables are fried for 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula. Put the eggplants in a bowl, fry the zucchini in a frying pan. When done, add the zucchini pieces to the eggplant.
Cut the tomatoes into medium-sized slices, put them with other vegetables. Pass the garlic through a press, add to the salad along with the basil leaves. Season with soy sauce and extra virgin olive oil. Salt to taste, mix well. Arrange the salad on warmed plates, sprinkle each portion with finely chopped green onions. Serve with a fresh baguette or white bread toast.
Vegetable and cheese salad: an easy snack option
As an appetizing snack, you can make a salad with fried eggplants, fresh zucchini, tomatoes and pickled cheese. The calorie content of the dish is low, it is suitable even for dieters. An important condition is not to pour in too much sauce, otherwise the salad will turn out to be too salty. A properly prepared dish looks very beautiful in photographs; it can be served on a festive table.
Ingredients:
- 1 young zucchini;
- 2 eggplants;
- 2 sweet meaty tomatoes;
- 200 g feta cheese or other young pickled cheese;
- soy sauce to taste;
- walnut kernels;
- salt;
- refined vegetable oil for frying.
Wash and dry the vegetables. Cut the eggplants into thin slices, soak in cold salted water for half an hour. Then put the vegetables in a colander and drain the liquid. Fry the eggplants in heated vegetable oil until golden brown, constantly turning and stirring with a wooden spatula. Put on a plate, mix with soy sauce and cool.
Cut the cheese into plastics, scald the tomatoes with boiling water and remove the skin. Cut the pulp into circles. Peel the zucchini, turn it into thin slices with a vegetable peeler. Lay the fried eggplants, slices of cheese and tomatoes, rolled zucchini plates on the dish in layers. Fry the walnuts in a dry frying pan, chop coarsely with a knife and sprinkle on the salad.
Hearty salad with tongue
An original version for a festive table. The appetizer turns out to be very satisfying, numerous ingredients give the dish an unusual and very pleasant taste.
Ingredients:
- 2 eggplant;
- 1 young zucchini;
- 250 g beef tongue;
- 1 onion;
- 150 g pickled champignons;
- 1 sweet pepper;
- balsamic vinegar;
- a few feathers of green onions;
- lettuce leaves;
- sugar;
- grain mustard.
Boil the beef tongue in salted water, cool. Wash eggplants and zucchini, dry, cut into thin slices and fry in hot vegetable oil until golden brown. To prevent the dish from becoming too greasy, put a little oil. Place vegetables on a paper towel lined plate to absorb excess fat.
Cut onion and pepper into cubes and quickly fry, stirring occasionally with a spatula. Arrange vegetables with eggplants and zucchini. Chop the beef tongue into small cubes, mix with vegetables. Cut the champignons into thin slices, add to the salad and mix.
Prepare the dressing by mixing soy sauce, mustard, sugar and balsamic vinegar in a jar. Adjust the proportions of ingredients to taste. Season the salad, stir. Put green lettuce leaves on the plates, place a pile of vegetables mixed with the tongue on top. Sprinkle each serving with finely chopped green onions.
Zucchini and Eggplant Winter Salad: Step-by-Step Preparation
A mixture of eggplant and zucchini is the perfect combination for hearty winter salads. The dish is served as a cold snack, added to stews and soups, and used as a light but hearty side dish. Based on the basic recipe, you can invent your own variations by experimenting with spices.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg eggplant;
- 1 kg of zucchini;
- 1 kg of sweet carrots;
- a bunch of fresh herbs (dill and parsley);
- 1, 5 cups of refined vegetable oil;
- 1 kg of sweet pepper;
- 2 heads of garlic;
- 1, 5 cups of sugar;
- 80 ml of table vinegar;
- 0.3 cups salt;
- 1 tsp coriander.
Wash and dry the vegetables. If the zucchini skin is tough, remove it with a vegetable peeler. Remove seeds from pepper, remove stalks. Cut the courgettes and eggplants into slices, sweet peppers into rings. Peel and grate the carrots. Cover the eggplants with salt and leave for 20 minutes for the vegetables to start juicing.
Rinse the eggplants under running water and discard in a colander. When the liquid is completely drained, squeeze the vegetables with your hands and pat dry with a paper towel. Heat vegetable oil in a thick-walled skillet and fry the eggplants until golden brown. Remove the fried pieces and brown the grated carrots in a skillet.
Prepare the sauce. Purée tomatoes, bell peppers and peeled garlic in a blender. Add sugar, salt, vinegar, mix thoroughly. Put eggplants, carrots and zucchini in a saucepan, pour over the sauce. Bring everything to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about half an hour.
Arrange the salad in pre-sterilized jars, pouring the vegetables with a thick sauce and filling the containers along the "shoulders". Tighten the jars with lids, turn over, wrap with a thick terry towel and leave to cool completely. Store canned food in a cool, dark place, preferably in a cellar.
Spicy salad without sterilization: a savory snack for the winter
In this recipe, assorted vegetables are harmoniously combined with the original sauce. Fresh ginger in a duet with hot chili gives interesting notes to the salad. The salad will be an excellent accompaniment to grilled meat or sauce and pasta.
Ingredients:
- 1, 2 kg of young zucchini;
- 600 g eggplant;
- 30 g red chili;
- 1 kg of tomatoes;
- 200 g sweet pepper;
- 5 cloves of garlic;
- 200 g of young sweet carrots;
- 1 horseradish sheet;
- 5 black peppercorns;
- 10 g fresh ginger root;
- 50 g sugar;
- 30 ml of 9% table vinegar;
- freshly squeezed lemon juice;
- a few sprigs of parsley;
- 50 ml of refined sunflower oil;
- 40 g of salt.
Wash eggplants and zucchini, dry, cut off the stalks. Cut vegetables into neat cubes. Set aside the zucchini, pour the eggplants into a bowl, add salt, sprinkle with freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix.
Chop the onion into cubes, peel the bell peppers and chop finely. Chop the onion into rings. Place the prepared vegetables with the zucchini. Rinse the eggplants with water, discard in a colander, drain the liquid.
Prepare hot sauce. Cut the tomatoes into large pieces, put in a blender bowl, add peeled hot peppers, garlic, ginger. Chop the peppercorns and add them to the blender too. Beat everything into a homogeneous mass.
Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, fry the pieces of eggplant, stirring constantly with a spatula. Put them on a plate, pour the oil from the pan into the pan. Add the mixture of courgettes, carrots, bell peppers and horseradish leaves. Warm up the mass until the zucchini is allowed to juice. Add the tomato sauce, heat for a few more minutes and add the fried eggplants. Mix everything thoroughly.
Simmer the mixture for several minutes, add salt and sugar. Continue cooking the salad until the liquid has decreased by a quarter. Chop the parsley, squeeze the lemon juice into a saucepan and pour in the vinegar. Stir again, wait until the greens change color.
Arrange the hot salad in sterilized jars, add a slice of lemon along with the peel to each. Tighten canned food with lids and leave to cool completely, wrapped in a blanket or blanket. Spicy winter salad is best stored in the cellar or in the lower compartment of the refrigerator.
