Roasted eggplant salad

As summer hits Bangalore in full flow, neither Pooja nor I do well with the heat. Regular followers of this blog will notice complaints about the summer becoming frequent motifs on this blog. There is little to like about a scorching summer. Add to that my dust allergies which ensure that a sneeze-fest is always around the corner, and the combination of common cold and bad throat with persistent heat makes for a particularly annoying combination. This summer, we have been resorting to just fruits and vegetables for a light dinner.

Pooja loves eggplants more than I could ever imagine loving a vegetable. I have sat around bemused and watched her nibble through raw slices on occasion. Needless to say, eggplants were among the first things we turned to in our quest for a light vegetable salad. Tossed with lemon juice vinaigrette before roasting, they come out nicely flavourful. The fresh mint is what tops off this recipe for a fresh yet warm light dinner salad. 

Roasted eggplant salad
Adapted from New York Times Cooking

½ cup virgin olive oil
Juice of one large lemon (about 2 tbsp)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 medium sized eggplant (about 750 gms), cut into 1-inch chunks
2 cloves of garlic, minced
⅔ cup feta cheese, crumbled
1½ tbsp capers, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bell pepper, deseeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
⅔ cup fresh mint leaves

1. Preheat oven to 220° C.

2. Combine olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a bowl. Toss the eggplants with a quarter of the vinaigrette and bake for about 30 minutes or until tender. Pull out the eggplants from the oven and set aside to cool.

3. Add the feta cheese and minced garlic and capers to the remaining vinaigrette and mix properly.

4. Mix the eggplants, peppers and tomatoes and toss in a salad bowl with the vinaigrette and mint leaves. Serve in a bowl.