Eggplant and Red Pepper Salad, Oven Roasted

This salad is the sort you see everywhere in Israel, a simple yet delicious salad (no you don’t have to roast and peel the red peppers) with most of the work done passively in the oven – you simply roast the eggplant and bell pepper in the oven till completely soft and just add a few items and done.

The only thing (which I left out of one recipe and will correct) is you gotta salt the eggplant. Yes, yes, you must. If you’ve ever eaten an eggplant salad which gives you heartburn or seems terribly bitter it’s because it hasn’t been salted and drained. It’s a necessity and anyone who tells you otherwise, send them to me. No, just no.

So pick some lovely eggplants (I used 4! this time, it goes like mad) and remember, they cook down quite a bit so take that into account, and cut in about four pieces lengthwise, after washing and chopping off their heads (off with their heads, there I said it and feel better) like so:

I leave them attached on the top for ease of chopping up later. Onward. Next take some coarse/kosher salt and heavily sprinkle between the slices. Then put in a colander and let ’em drip those nasty bitter juices away for 30 minutes. It can be longer if you wish, just not less time than that.

Set aside and carry on.

I wash and chop up the red pepper and just gather the other ingredients while they drip.

Okay, the 30 minutes are over, turn on the oven to 420 F (on bake, not broil!!!) rinse the eggplants well and pat dry. Don’t skip this because you will toss this with oil and if not patted dry, will not work well. Then in a stacked fashion cut into more or less even chunks like so:

Now before putting the eggplants and peppers on the rimmed baking tray, prepare it by covering well with aluminum foil and generously scattering olive oil on bottom of tray like so:

The trick here is that eggplant will soak up your oil like a crazed sponge and before you turn around, if you don’t put the whole lot down together, you will wonder where the heck your oil went. So, keep the eggplant on the cutting board till the peppers and pan is ready and all at the same time, put them on the baking tray and immediately toss toss toss (I use my hands, mea culpa or with latex gloves as you wish). This way they will be evenly coated with the oil and you won’t end up using a huge amount. You may sprinkle a little coarse salt over all, not too much since the eggplants do retain a bit of salt from the previous salting. Good. Just a note, if you use 4 nice eggplants as I did, you need 2 baking trays. Just sayin’.

Bung them into the hot oven (really hot, no kidding!) and after about 30 minutes toss a bit with a spatula or spoon and replace in oven for about another 15-30 minutes. It might be less, keep an eye on them. When the eggplant shrinks to about half its previous size and gets light brown, it should be done.

This is actually from a different batch I made but I wanted you to see what the cooked down version looks like. Note they are lightly browned and a bit deflated. Just so.

Best to taste one piece since you can put them back for more roasting if need be but once made into salad, too late. Okay.

Scrape all the eggplant and pepper into a bowl and add chopped pickles, a bit of brine only if not too salty (hence you need to taste the eggplant) crushed garlic, chopped parsley, lemon juice, cider vinegar and a bit more oil. Stir and toss till all is properly coated. Taste a bit and correct seasoning if need be.

Enjoy with crackers, pita, challah, or as DH likes to occasionally do, wrapped in a lettuce leaf.

Eggplant and Red Pepper Salad, Oven Roasted

(A note, this can be halved but I’ve found it’s so beloved of my household that they always look around and say, that’s all there is? And we are not that many people!)

4 large eggplants
Kosher salt
2 large red/yellow pepper (I like to use one of each)
Olive oil
5-6 pickles in brine, chopped into small cubes
1-2 teaspoons brine from pickles only after checking how salty it is!!
2 crushed cloves garlic
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Wash the eggplants and chop off their green tops. Slice them lengthwise (leave the top attached for easy cubing later) and in between the slices, generously salt with coarse or kosher salt. Set into colander to let the bitter juices drip out for at least 30 minutes. In the meantime, gather your ingredients, wash and chop peppers into cubes and prepare rimmed baking pans by covering with tin foil and generously coating bottom of trays in olive oil (about 1/4-1/3 cup). After the 30 minutes are up, turn oven to 420 F and rinse off eggplants well and pat dry.

Cube the eggplants and together with the peppers, toss in the prepared pans and IMMEDIATELY (so no oil will get sucked up in one spot) toss toss toss to coat evenly. Pop into the preheated oven and roast for about 30 minutes, open oven and stir with spoon or spatula and replace in oven roasting between 15-30 more minutes or till eggplant deflates and lightly browns. Remove from oven and scoop into large bowl. Add the pickles, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, cider vinegar and olive oil. Toss all together and check if it needs more salt. If so, add a bit of the brine from the pickles. Toss again and serve with pita, crackers, challah or I like to serve as an appetizer with fresh cut salad and techina on the side.