Lenten/ Recipes/ Salads/ Vegan/ Vegetables/ Vegetarian

Salad with Eggplants and Fresh Cilantro

For today I have a warm salad for you, an ideal autumn dish. It’s a very nice accompaniment to grilled meat, chicken or fish. Good eggplants are still in the farmers market. Cilantro, I know, some of you don’t like it, but it fits well with eggplants.

What is also very suited to these ingredients are pine nuts; in this salad, especially, pine nuts are used in a quite generous dose. The seeds of pines have high nutritional value. They are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (such as oleic acid, which lowers “bad” LDL cholesterol and increase “good” HDL), zinc, iron, potassium, manganese, vitamins (especially vitamin E and B vitamins), protein, fiber, and antioxidants, and containing polyunsaturated fatty acids which reduce the appetite. However, pine nuts are energy dense. It is estimated that 1 tablespoon of pine nuts has is 45 calories.

Eggplants, on the other hand, are an excellent source of dietary fiber. They are also a good source of vitamins B1 and B6 and potassium. Furthermore, they have a high content of copper, manganese, magnesium, and antioxidants.

Let us now look at the recipe:

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants, cut into cubes
100 g. (3.5oz) pine nuts
1 large bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into cubes
2 cloves garlic, cut into thin slices
½ teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed in a mortar
seeds of 2 green cardamom pods, crushed in a mortar
½ teaspoon chile flakes
5 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper (optional)

Instructions:

In a nonstick pan, pour 3 tablespoons olive oil and place it over high heat. Pour into pan the eggplant cubes and let them browned and softened, about 10 minutes, stirring. Just before removing them from the fire add salt and stir. Once the eggplants are done, transfer to a bowl.
In the same pan, over medium heat, add the remaining olive oil, the diced red pepper and pine nuts, stirring constantly.
Once pepper cubes begin to soften add the garlic, coriander seeds and cardamom and chile flakes and continue to stir.
Finally, add the eggplant and half a bunch of coriander and stir. Remove from heat.
Serve on plates, and sprinkle with the rest of the chopped coriander and freshly ground pepper, if desired.

This salad is served warm. I hope you enjoy it!!

Adapted recipe from the Cuisine Actuelle magazine.

Nutritional Facts per Serving
Calories	Carbohydrates	Sugars	Total Fat	Saturated Fat	Proteins	Dietary Fibers	Cholesterol
356.6	14.3	2.1	34.2	3.6	5.2	5.4	0.0