Xavier brought home two eggplants and a whole mess of tomatoes last week and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them, but awhile back, I decided that roasting eggplant in the oven was the quickest and least-messy way to cook it (versus the salting/draining/frying thing), and since then, I’ve been solidly on Team Eggplant.
So, I cut these up and roasted them, roasted some red onion, too, and by then, I realized that I was on the home stretch to making a big ol’ eggplant salad. Chopped up a couple of tomatoes that were super-ripe, threw in some feta and mint, and on a lark, thought that toasting some pistachios would be fun, so I did that, too. What a great idea that was.
I’m all for nuts in salads, or on top of anything, for that matter, and when I saw these raw, shelled pistachios at the store the other day, I figured that they’d toast up real nice, just like the little pine nuts do.
This is great on its own, as a side, or shoveled into a pita, as I like to do. (I’m sure I don’t have to tell y’all this, but a tortilla would do the job, too.)
Eggplant-Tomato Salad with Feta, Mint and Toasted Pistachios
INGREDIENTS
1 large eggplant, sliced and quartered
2 large tomatoes, sliced into large chunks
½ small red onion, diced
6 ounces feta
2 tablespoons mint, chopped
¼ cup pistachios, toasted
red wine vinegar
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
pistachio oil
WHAT YOU DO
Preheat oven to 400.
1. Arrange eggplant pieces and red onion on a cookie sheet and bake until begin to brown, 5-10 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, mix eggplant, tomatoes and onions together. Drizzle a bit of olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar. Crumble most of the feta and toss.
3. Let rest for one hour in the fridge.
4. Before serving, drizzle with a bit of pistachio oil if you have it, crumble a bit more feta, and add the pistachios.
