Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tahini Dressing

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

• 2 eggplants – about 1 1/2 lb; I used Chinese Eggplants; small globe eggplants will work fine too; they should have purple skin – which is left on – to benefit from the anthocyanin.
• 5 T olive oil (divided)
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 8 oz cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 2-3 cucumbers (I prefer Persian, Lebanese, or Japanese cucumbers), cut into about 1/2″ chunks
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c chopped parsley
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1 T olive oil
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, quartered (optional), seasoned with salt and pepper
• Pita bread for serving

Tahini Dressing (see our recipe on this site)

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut off and discard the eggplant stems, then cut them in half lengthways. Cut each half into 1 1/2″-thick wedges and put on a sheet pan.  Drizzle the eggplant with 4 T of olive oil, 1 tsp salt, a grind of pepper, and the oregano. Toss the mixture.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, turning the eggplant over once.  The flesh should be golden/brown and beginning to crisp.  Remove from oven and cool.

Mix together the tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper.  Toss with lemon juice and 1 T olive oil.

To serve spread about 1 T of the Tahini dressing on each salad plate.  Then add the roasted eggplant on top, followed by the chopped fresh tomato/cucumber mixture.  Place the pita and hard-boiled egg (if using) on the side.  Top the salad with a bit more Tahini dressing and serve.