Marinated Aubergine and Tomato with Cilantro
Fathers’ Day is coming and coming weekend we celebrate the fathers in our family. This week we dedicate all delicious food for them what they love very much or remind us of them. Unfortunately, my dad died 6 years ago but I have a lot of beautiful memories. A full menu will come together for weekend again, follow us and enjoy the multiplicity that characterizes our kitchen.
I start this week with a marinated aubergine salad which is a great side dish with grilled meals and a very good appetizer on a slice of toast.
Aubergine (or eggplant) is a large egg-shaped fruit, eaten as a vegetable, related to tomato and potato, usually eaten cooked. Its skin and seeds are also edible, it’s not necessary to peel and deseed it, unless the recipe suggests otherwise. The seeds are a bit bitter because of their nicotinoid alkaloid content like tobacco. The term “nightshade” comes from the fact that the plant loves the shady place and some of them bloom at night. White potatoes, goji berries, tomatoes, bell pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika also belong to the family of nightshades. They contain lectin, saponin, and capsaicin, these compounds can be problematic for people with autoimmune diseases, they could promote leaky gut. A lot of the lectins, saponins, and capsaicin are in the seeds and skin. It is better to avoid them with autoimmune disease. On the plus side, aubergine is a good source of fiber, potassium and vitamin B1, B6 and K.
It can be made in many ways, bake, mash, grill, stir fry, braise and stuff it. You can find a very delicious baba ganoush on our site, try it! I cut to small cubes and oven baked the aubergines first for this marinated version. It is very easy to make it, just you have to mix all ingredients and put it into a jar and leave in the fridge for a day, since it’s better to eat it next day when the flavors have merged.
Marinated Aubergine and Tomato with Cilantro
Ingredients
- 3 aubergine 750-800 gram total, cut 1,5 cm cubes
- 250 gram red cocktail tomatoes cut small cubes
- 4 spring onion finely sliced
- 2 cloves garlic mashed
- 1 bunch cilantro cut finely
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 4 tbsp olive oil + extra to drizzle
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C.
- Wash and dry aubergines and cut them to 1,5 cm cubes.
- Put cubes on a baking tray and drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with some pinches of salt and pepper. Bake them on 200°C and switch on air circulation too. It’s about 20 minutes, and no problem, if the edges are a bit brown at the end.
- While aubergines are baking, cut tomatoes, cilantro, mash garlics and slice spring onions. Put everything in a bowl.
- When aubergines are ready, add them to the bowl with the other ingredients, add balsamic vinegar and olive oil, mix them gently, we do not want to break the ingredients.
- Season it with salt and pepper if necessary and add a bit more balsamic vinegar if you like it more sour.
- Put the salad into a jar, close it and place it into the fridge for some hours. It is best to serve it next day when the flavors merged better.