Shabbat tables in Israel are full of salads. From the standard Israeli salad of cucumbers and tomatoes, to Moroccan matbucha, pickled beets, hummus and tahina. The list goes on.
Many are easy. Many are not. Some have so many steps of frying, baking, cutting, and cooling…it is almost impossible for a busy mother to even attempt with all the other Shabbat dishes needing to be prepared.
The reason why I love this eggplant salad, another recipe from my Turkish mother-in-law Chana, who might be the queen of all salads (and second is definitely my neighbor Maya), is that there is no frying involved. Obviously healthier and less time consuming. And you can bake the eggplant instead of burning it on the gas/fire and the taste is still great.
Garlic is what makes this salad spicy, but you can leave it out for a simpler version.
*The tip is you must prepare and serve this salad on a flat plate and not in a bowl!
Quick & Spicy Turkish Eggplant Salad
What you need:
1 medium size eggplant
2-3 garlic cloves (depending on how spicy you want it), crushed
1 medium-sized tomato chopped in small cubes
Half of a lemon
Olive oil
Salt
Preparation:
- Pierce the eggplant and either bake it or roast it on the gas on your stove until soft. In the oven this will take around 30-40 minutes. On the gas about 20 minutes.
- When cooled, peel off the ends of the eggplant and place all the flesh on a medium size plate that you will serve on.
- Mash the eggplant with a fork to cover the plate.
- Mix in well the crushed garlic and tomatoes and flatten it out again evenly on the plate.
- Generously spread olive oil all over the salad. Don’t worry if it looks like too much oil, it will seep in. Then pour over the lemon juice and sprinkle the salad with salt.
- Let the salad cool and set in the fridge for an hour or so before serving if possible. If you are pressed for time, you can serve it right way.
*Again, the tip is you must prepare and serve this salad on a flat plate and not in a bowl! If you try to do the same steps above in a bowl, it won’t come out the same.
Betavon!
Modest Jerusalem 