Christine Datian must have been reading my mind. As I was
doing my eggplant experiment in Florida, she was creating an eggplant recipe of
her own in Nevada. Her recipe for ‘Grilled Eggplant and Chopped Salad with
Lemon – Mint Dressing’ recently appeared in The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
newspaper. I offered to post it to present another way one can serve eggplant. She
was happy for me to do just that.
with this delightful summertime recipe!
Eggplant and Chopped Salad with Lemon – Mint Dressing
1 large eggplant or 2-3 Japanese eggplant, sliced in ½-inch
pieces or chunks
6-7 cups romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, radicchio,
escarole, endive, kale and/or spinach (or any choice of lettuce or salad
greens)
2-3 medium tomatoes, any variety, cut into chunks
1 large ripe avocado, diced or sliced
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 medium red or green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 English cucumber, halved and sliced or diced (or 4
Persian cucumbers, sliced or diced)
3-4 green onions or spring onions, sliced or chopped
About 1 cup fresh chopped mint, dill, and Italian flat leaf
parsley
Sliced black or Kalamata olives
8 ounces feta or blue cheese, crumbled
dried (or fresh) apricots, pomegranate seeds, and toasted, chopped walnuts and
pine nuts
Olive oil, salt and pepper (for eggplant on grill)
About 1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 or 2
large lemons and the zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
2 cloves garlic, mashed
1 teaspoon crushed dried mint
1/2 teaspoon each coarse black pepper, paprika, cayenne
pepper, and ground
Pinch of kosher salt (to taste)
Pinch of sugar (optional)
medium bowl or container, combine the salad dressing ingredients; check
seasonings, cover and chill before serving.
grill for 10-15 minutes and grill eggplant on both sides until tender, about 8
to 10 minutes. Brush eggplant with a
little olive oil, salt and pepper as it grills.
Remove eggplant from the grill and set aside on a tray or plate.
large bowl, toss the salad ingredients together, including the pita bread
pieces; add some dressing to taste, and toss again. Plate salad on four serving
plates; top with eggplant, additional salad dressing, cheese, and the chopped
apricots, pomegranate seeds, walnuts, and pine nuts as garnish.
lamb, pork or steak, if desired.
To see more of Christine’s recipes, go to:
http://search.myrecipes.com/search.html?Ntt=datian or
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/category/recipes/
Christine Vartanian Datian is a native of Fresno, California and lives in Las Vegas. She is a graduate of Fresno High School and California State University, Fresno (CSUF), and holds a Master of Arts Degree (MA) in Mass Communications. She has been published in Sunset and Cooking Light Magazines for over a decade and is regularly featured in the Armenian Mirror-Spectator Newspaper.
Not strictly related, but I saw a travel video (Yerevan) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiUT794BOnY which mentions and shows "Kovsakan Salad" (Beef, bell pepper, hot pepper, onion, greens, dressing, spices) and khurjin (Lamb, onion, bell pepper, tomato, sauce, spices, wrapped in lavash, almost like a pot pie). They look delicious and are praised in the video (which also thumbs through the menu at a Yerevan restaurant–very readable with the 'pause' button). Any information–or recipies!–would be welcome.
I sent your request to my culinary expert in Yerevan, to which she replied: "Kovsakan means Caucasus. I'm sure the dish is not Armenian.I think that is a creative dish; not traditional.
KHURJIN is also new a creation, it means parcel.
I have tried its vegetarian version once, which was fried vegetables, like a Chinese dish- all vegetables cut into strips & fried in oil, then wrapped in lavash, tied & baked in the oven.
I hope this is somewhat helpful.