Monday, July 18, 2011

Meatless Monday: grilled eggplant/aubergine with feta, golden raisins and mint

Grilled aubergine with white cheese, raisins and mint / Grillitud pommu ferta-juustu, rosinate ja mündiga

Time for another Meatless Monday dish. Aubergine/eggplant is one of my favourite vegetables and while I'm looking forward to our own aubergine crop soon, at the moment I must have do with imported aubergines. Luckily there are nice ones around just now (I dislike those huge sponge-like bulbous ones that you get during winter and early spring), so I cook something with aubergines/eggplants every week or two.

Aubergines / Eggplants / Oma aia pommud / Oma aia baklažaanid
Aubergines/Eggplants from Nami-Nami garden, September 2010

This lovely vegetarian dish is good as it is, but it could also be served as a side dish to some grilled chicken, fish or meat.

Other aubergine/eggplant recipes @ Nami-Nami:
Nasu dengaku or miso-glazed aubergine
Ottolenghi's roasted aubergine with saffron yoghurt
A lovely aubergine curry with tomatoes, coriander and nigella seeds
Armenian Aubergine Stew
Brinjal Masala (deep-fried aubergines)
Hob-to-table moussaka

Grilled aubergine with feta, golden raisins and mint
(Meatless Monday)
Adapted from a recipe on Swedish Arla-site
Serves 4

2 medium-sized aubergines/eggplants (not too bulbous)
3-4 Tbsp oil
salt and black pepper
small bunch of mint
4 Tbsp golden raisins
4 Tbsp roasted pinenuts
150-200 g Greek feta cheese, crumbled or cubed

Rinse the eggplants and cut into 5 mm (that's half a centimetre or about 1/4th of an inch). Sprinkle some salt and place in a colander to drain (contrary to a widespread misconception, this is NOT done to get rid of any bitterness - modern eggplant varieties simply are not bitter. However, by draining some of the eggplant juices off beforehand, they immerse less oil when frying later). Put aside for about 20-30 minutes.
Pat the aubergine slices dry, then brush with oil on both sides.
Heat a heavy frying pan until very hot, then reduce heat to medium-high and fry eggplant/aubergine slices until golden brown on both sides (about 2-3 minutes per side). Season with salt and pepper and place on a serving tray.
Sprinkle with crumbled feta, chopped mint leaves, golden raisins and roasted pinenuts.
Serve.

6 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

This sounds just delicious. I think eggplant and Feta is such a good combination of flavors.

servicii contabile said...

Oh my God this looks so good and i`m sure that it is delicious too. I think it is not a very difficult recipe so i will give it a try, thanks a lot for sharing.

Paola Westbeek said...

This looks delicious. I adore aubergines!

Otehlia said...

Oh! This looks fabulous. I love anything with mint right now. These are beautiful!

Farmgirl Susan said...

Yum! :)

Katarina said...

Hi! What a beautiful blog you have and so many delicious recipes :) Have a great day!
-Katarina