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.
So fire-up your grill and get ready to entice your family 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
2 to 3 pita bread rounds, cut into pieces
8 ounces feta or blue cheese, crumbled
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)
seasonings, cover and chill before serving.
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.
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.
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.