Roasted aubergine (eggplant) with tahini dressing
If you are one of those people who do not like aubergine (or 'eggplant' if you're American), it is undoubtedly due to the preparation method. Half-cooked or boiled aubergine is indeed not the best to put it lightly: in that case you may think it's normal for this vegetable to taste rubbery and bitter. But roasted or fried with some oil and salt it becomes a completely different story: in that case it becomes deliciously smooth. With the right seasonings and toppings you can easily turn it into a top dish.
The Middle Eastern cuisine often combines aubergine with tahini (sesame paste). You might be familiar with baba ganoush, for example. This flavour combo just works. However, there is a lot of variation in quality when it comes to tahini: normally it should be light coloured, creamy and soft with a nutty taste. A bad tahini is often dark in colour, bone dry and bitter due to the poor quality of the sesame seeds or because they were roasted for too long. With a good tahini you can make a delicious dressing by adding some lemon juice for the sour touch, and some maple syrup for the sweetness. This is simple and pure cuisine at its best. You can finish this dish with some optional toppings and serve it as a side dish, or as a main course with, for example, a couscous salad. This way you can supplement this high-fat treat with proteins and carbohydrates for a balanced meal.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the aubergines in half lengthwise. Then gently cut diagonally into the flesh of the aubergine to create a diamond pattern, but try not to cut through the skin.
Mix the olive oil with the crushed garlic cloves and the chili flakes. Spread the aubergine halves with the seasoned oil and place them on a baking tray. Finish with ground black pepper and a pinch of salt and bake in the oven at 190°C / 375°F for 50 minutes.
In the mean time, make the tahini dressing: mix the tahini with the lemon juice and maple syrup. You will notice that this mixture will firm up at first. That's because the solid particles in the tahini will absorb the moisture and expand. Add some water, tablespoon by tablespoon, just enough until it turns slightly liquid again.
When the aubergine is golden brown, take it out of the oven. Drizzle with the tahini dressing and finish with optional toppings such as soy yogurt, pomegranate seeds and some arugula, parsley or mint. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the aubergines in half lengthwise. Then gently cut diagonally into the flesh of the aubergine to create a diamond pattern, but try not to cut through the skin.
Mix the olive oil with the crushed garlic cloves and the chili flakes. Spread the aubergine halves with the seasoned oil and place them on a baking tray. Finish with ground black pepper and a pinch of salt and bake in the oven at 190°C / 375°F for 50 minutes.
In the mean time, make the tahini dressing: mix the tahini with the lemon juice and maple syrup. You will notice that this mixture will firm up at first. That's because the solid particles in the tahini will absorb the moisture and expand. Add some water, tablespoon by tablespoon, just enough until it turns slightly liquid again.
When the aubergine is golden brown, take it out of the oven. Drizzle with the tahini dressing and finish with optional toppings such as soy yogurt, pomegranate seeds and some arugula, parsley or mint. Enjoy!