Best Eggplant Salad With Chickpeas And Feta Recipes

EASY GREEK-STYLE EGGPLANT RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place eggplant cubes in a colander over a large bowl or directly over your sink, and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 20 minutes or so to allow eggplant to "sweat out" any bitterness. Rinse with water and pat dry.
• In a large braiser, heat 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil over medium-high until shimmering but not smoking. Add onions, peppers, and chopped carrot. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly, then add garlic, bay leaf, spices, and a dash of salt. Cook another minute, stirring until fragrant.
• Now add eggplant, chopped tomato, chickpeas, and reserved chickpea liquid. Stir to combine.
• Bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes or so. Stir often. Remove from stove top, cover and transfer to oven.
• Cook in oven for 45 minutes until eggplant is fully cooked through to very tender. (While eggplant is braising, be sure to check once or twice to see if more liquid is needed. If so, remove from oven briefly and stir in about 1/2 cup of water at a time.)
• When eggplant is ready, remove from oven and add a generous drizzle of Private Reserve EVOO, garnish with fresh herbs (parsley or mint). Serve hot or at room temperature with a side of Greek yogurt or even Tzatziki sauce and pita bread.

CHICKPEA AND EGGPLANT SALAD

Steps:

• Cover the onion with water and set aside for half an hour-this reduces the harshness of its taste when eaten raw.
• Next prepare the eggplant. Spread the half-moon slices out on a baking sheet and brush them with olive oil. Place on a high rack under the broiler for 5 minutes, then take out and brush again with a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice-you can make it quite wet, as the eggplant will absorb all the liquid. Place back under the broiler until the edges of the slices are slightly blackened and the flesh is soft. Set aside in a large bowl.
• On the same baking sheet, spread out the chickpeas and broil until they're golden. Add them to the bowl of eggplant.
• Dice the tomatoes into small cubes and add to the bowl along with the parsley, drained red onion slices, garlic oil, cayenne pepper, remaining lemon juice, zest, salt and pepper and mix well. Serve warm, with a sprinkling of slivered almonds.

GRILLED EGGPLANT AND GOAT CHEESE SALAD

Steps:

• Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Drizzle the olive oil over the slices of eggplant and toss to coat. Grill the eggplants until tender and grill marks appear, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• Place the eggplants side-by-side on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the pine nuts, goat cheese, basil, and mint. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
• Cook's note: Plating the eggplant salad this way allowed the cheese to stay bright white. The salt and pepper showed up on it. The herbs remained green and fluffy. The grill marks on the eggplant were distinct.

CHICKPEA FETA SALAD OVER GREENS

Steps:

• Mix together the olive oil, lemon zest and juice and some salt and pepper in a small bowl. In a large bowl, gently toss together the greens, tomatoes, chickpeas, cucumbers, shallot and feta.
• Toss the dressing with the salad just before serving.

GRILLED EGGPLANT SALAD

Steps:

• Brush the eggplant and red onions with canola oil and arrange on the grill. Cook the eggplant until soft and grill the onions until they have a slight char. Remove from the grill to a cutting board and let cool slightly. Once cool, roughly chop and add them to a serving bowl along with the avocado.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, the Dijon, and oregano. Add honey and olive oil, to taste, and blend until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Add the dressing to the eggplant mixture and toss. Garnish with lemon zest and parsley sprigs and serve.

SPINACH SALAD WITH GRILLED EGGPLANT AND FETA

Steps:

• Prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over hot charcoal (high heat for gas); see Grilling Procedure .
• Whisk together oil, lemon juice, garlic, marjoram, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl.
• Brush both sides of eggplant slices with some of dressing. Season with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Oil grill rack, then grill eggplant, covered only if using a gas grill, turning occasionally, until tender, 12 to 15 minutes total. Cut into pieces.
• Toss spinach with enough dressing to coat and season with salt and pepper. Add eggplant, feta, and pine nuts and toss again.

EGGPLANT SALAD WITH PEPPERS, MINT AND CAPER-FETA VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
• Toss eggplant with 1/3 cup vinaigrette, reserving the rest. Arrange on a baking sheet. Bake, tossing occasionally, until tender and golden around edges, about 30 minutes. Let eggplant cool somewhat. (It can be warm but not hot enough to melt feta or wilt mint.)
• Whisk feta, garlic and capers into reserved vinaigrette. In a large bowl, combine eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and mint leaves. Toss with vinaigrette, and serve immediately or within several hours. (It holds up all day.)

EGGPLANT STEAKS WITH CHICKPEAS, FETA CHEESE AND BLACK OLIVES

Steps:

• To make the Balsamic Marinade: combine the first 5 ingredients, slowly adding the oil and stirring briskly to combine well. Set aside.
• Prepare a hot charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill to medium-high. Place a vegetable grilling rack on the grill. Or preheat the broiler.
• To make the Eggplant steaks: cut the eggplant lengthwise into four 1/2" slices to resemble steaks. Brush the steaks with the marinade.
• Grill or broil the eggplant for 2 minutes on each side, or until tender but not soft. Remove from the heat, and place 1 steak on each serving plate.
• Put the chickpeas, tomatoes, feta, olives and oregano in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir to combine well. Add some marinade, and stir again.
• Toast or grill the pita bread, cut into pie-shaped wedges and set aside.
• Spoon 1 or 2 scoops of the tomato-olive mixture onto each eggplant steak with some mixture pooling onto the plate. Sprinkle with vinegar, place several pita wedes on the plate, and serve.