Roasted Eggplant & Fresh Tomato Salad

I saw this recipe for Roasted Eggplant & Fresh Tomato Salad & had to try it! It is a perfect salad to use some fresh veg from a Farmers Market!

The recipe is from Chatalaine.com. Grilled Eggplant Salad. 

You can either grill or roast the eggplant for this salad. I grilled the eggplant the day before & put the salad together a few hours before our guests arrived & chilled it in the refrigerator.

I do not have any pictures making this dish…not sure why but I have decided to post it anyway because it was very good! Out guests loved it & this salad is a very different & interesting side dish! (Of course..it is good on its own as well)

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

2 large eggplant *** you can use 4 Japanese eggplants …I could not find any so I used the regular deep purple eggplants

2 tbsp olive oil

kosher salt …to sprinkle on the eggplant before cooking it

4 tomatoes

Salad Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, minced

4 tsp capers, chopped

Method

1. If you are going to BBQ the eggplant, pre-heat your grill to medium. & grease the grill
2. If you are roasting the eggplant, prepare a baking sheet..line it with parchment paper or with foil…spray the foil with non-stick spray if you are using this
3. Wash the eggplant & trim the edges.
4. To roast the eggplant, I cut it into 1 inch chunks.. I don’t like my eggplant pieces big or too thick. Toss the eggplant with the oil & put in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Roast in a 400f oven until soft… the amount of time you roast the eggplant for depends on how big your pieces are…& how soft you like your eggplant!  If you overdo the eggplant it can stick to the baking sheet & can be un-usable so you have to keep an eye on it in the oven! You can toss it once as well to help prevent sticking
5.  If you are grilling the eggplant, slice the eggplant ,..cut the eggplant in 3 slices lengthwise, brush them with oil & grill until soft… have the lid closed..turn the eggplant while it is cooking. Once it is cooked remove from the grill onto a cutting board. Cut the eggplant into chunks
6. While the eggplant is cooking…cut the tomatoes into quarters & then each quarter into thirds… I wanted the tomatoes to be approximately the same size as the eggplant….but of course you can cut your eggplant & tomatoes into any size you prefer
7. Now, make the dressing by combining the oil, red wine vinegar, salt & minced garlic
8. Mix the cut-up tomatoes & dressing in a bowl large enough for you to add the eggplant to.. add the capers & mix
9. When the eggplant is cooked, add it to the tomato mixture & stir!
10. Season with salt if needed

I served this salad chilled!

Enjoy!