Lebanese Eggplant Salad Salatit El Batinjan Recipes

FATTET BETENJAN (EGGPLANT AND YOGURT SALAD)

Steps:

• Pour water and 2 tablespoons salt into a large bowl. Add cubed eggplant and let sit for 30 minutes. Drain and place on paper towel-lines plates until completely dry, about 30 more minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Chop pita bread into 1-inch cubes and place on a baking sheet.
• Roast in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes; do not burn. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• Heat 1/2 inch oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Working in batches, fry eggplant until golden, about 6 minutes per batch. Remove to paper towel-lined plates to drain.
• Meanwhile, combine yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a small frying pan. Add almonds and cook until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring often, until nicely brown and toasted, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Remove from the heat.
• Place lettuce on a serving platter. Layer with eggplant, chickpeas, and roasted pita bread. Pour yogurt mixture over top and sprinkle with toasted almonds. Serve at room temperature or cold.

LEBANESE EGGPLANT SALAD - (SALATIT EL BATINJAN)

Steps:

• Put the whole eggplant as is, (only cut and remove the stem from the top), on a baking sheet and bake it. You'll notice when it's done that the juice came out on the baking sheet and the skin is almost toasted and it becomes soft when you punch it with a knife.
• Let it cool for a bit then cut it in half and remove the skin; just cut it roughly into small/medium diced pieces and put it in the salad bowl, (it's ok if it has some juice still). Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix the salad and serve. This is good with pita bread on the side.

LEBANESE EGGPLANT SALAD / SALAFAT EL RAHAB

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the grill to high.2. When ready to cook, place the eggplants on the hot grate and grill until charred all over and the flesh is very soft, turning with tongs as needed. This will take 15 to 20 minutes for small eggplants up to 30 minutes for large. Transfer the eggplants to a cutting board to cool.3. Cut the stem ends from the eggplants and scrape off the burnt skin with a paring knife. Cut the flesh into 1/4-inch dice and transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, scallions, garlic (if using), 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Taste for seasoning, adding more olive oil if the salad seems too dry and salt or lemon juice as necessary the salad should be highly seasoned.Serves 4

LEBANESE HERB SALAD

Steps:

• Place the herbs, lettuce, cilantro, scallions, pepper and tomatoes in a bowl.
• Separately, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
• Toss the dressing together with the salad and let rest for 15 minutes.
• About 5 minutes before you want to eat, toast the pita breads and then cut each in half crossways.
• Cut each half into 3 strips to make 12 pieces.
• Arrange 6 strips around each plate and heap the salad in the middle.