So much variety!

Eggplant..it’s been too long since I created something yummy with one of my favourite vegetables.

My fruity rice salad proved to be the inspiration behind this dish…if only in terms of introducing a whole host of variety!

Griddled Eggplant doused in a deliciously sweet slightly spicy Moroccan sauce, served on a delicious cauliflower couscous salad.

Lets start at the bottom and work our way up with this one. Cauliflower couscous, any type couscous or grain for that matter just oozes bland and boring but it can used to create a base for something quite wonderful given half a chance. I mixed up spring onion, fresh diced apricots, mint, chickpeas, pomegranate, toasted pinenuts mint and parsley, a few dashes of lemon juice, seasoned with salt and pepper.

Now no one could call that a boring or flavourless salad! Such a variety of colours, textures, flavours…it was a feast for all the senses. Incredibly fragrant, it was hard to resist digging in before I even had the eggplant ready to place on top!

I took half a small eggplant and sliced it thinly, seasons it a little and rubbed with just a teaspoon of olive oil, it’s all it needs and lay each slice in a griddle pan, turning over when I got the sought after scorch marks!

I then whipped up the super simple sweet and savoury sauce with a bit of kick and got to plating, or in this case bowling, up! Cold salad, warm eggplant, hot sauce. Altogether it was an a beautiful dish. My big bowls are coming in very handy

The nutrients and potential health benefits of eggplant aren’t something that is particularly at the forefront of nutritional talk; all things green, orange and blue get praised no end and tend to overshadow the rest!

Here’s a few little things you might not know…

• It has a high fiber content which helps our digestive process and also acts against coronary heart disease.
• Eggplants are also used to reduce glucose levels of type II Diabetes. This is attributed to the fact that the vegetable contains low levels of carbohydrates and high fiber levels.
• Potassium in eggplants brings a balance in salt intake and maintains a nice level of hydration; helping you maintain healthy skin and hair!
• Nasunin, the antioxidant found in eggplant skin, is an angiogenesis inhibitor, and might be useful to prevent angiogenesis-related diseases; the formation of new blood cells which has an important role in the growth and spread of cancer.

One of my other all time favourite eggplant dishes is caponata!

Learn anything new? Any other eggplant tit bits to share?

Moroccan Eggplant with Beautiful Cauliflower Couscous

 Print this easy peasy recipe

Servings – 1

Preparation Time – 5 minutes

Cooking Time – 20 minutes

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 cup ground cauliflower
• 2 apricots finely diced
• 2 spring onions finely chopped
• 1 tbsp pomegranate seeds
• 1/3 cup cooked chickpeas
• 1 tbsp toasted pinenuts
• 1/2 tbsp finely chopped mint
• 1/2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Eggplant

• 1/2 small eggplant finely sliced
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil

Sauce

• 1/8 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp water
• 1/2 small clove of garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp harissa paste
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Mix together all salad components and set to one side.
2. Rub eggplant with olive oil and seasoning and place in a hot griddle pan over a medium to high heat. Allow to cook on both sides until scorch marks form; about 3-4 minutes each side.
3. Meanwhile place garlic and water in pot and cook for 2 minutes. Add in all other ingredients and simmer for a couple of minutes; it should be thick and syrupy!
4. Serve the griddled eggplant on to of the salad. Pour sauce over the eggplant and garnish with mint to serve!

Tagged as: cauliflower couscous, chickpeas, eggplant, mint, moroccan, pomegranate, recipes, vegan, vegetarian