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Roasted eggplant and halloumi salad with green tahini and honey dressing
This recipe makes for a great light lunch on its own or is an excellent side dish for anything Mediterranean.
YIELDS
4
Ingredients
Green Tahini Dressing
- 1 cup picked basil leaves
- 1 cup picked cilantro leaves
- 1 cup picked mint leaves
- 1 1/2 cloves garlic
- 1 jalapeno, halved and seeded
- 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 1/2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Salad
- 4 baby eggplants
- 3 banana peppers
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 8 oz block halloumi, cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 1/2 batch Green Tahini Dressing
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons white or black sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup picked and torn mint
- 1/4 cup picked and torn cilantro
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 1 long red chili, chopped (optional)
Directions
Green Tahini Dressing
- In a blender or food processor, combine basil leaves, parsley leaves, cilantro leaves, mint leaves, garlic, japaleno, rice wine vinegar, tahini, soy sauce, honey, lemon juice, and kosher salt and blend until smooth.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
Salad
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Keeping the eggplants whole, peel them from the cap down, until none of the skin remains. In a bowl, toss the peeled eggplants and banana peppers in olive oil and a few pinches of salt and pepper, then place them in a cast-iron pan. Roast until golden brown and completely tender, around 40 minutes, turning twice. Transfer the eggplants and peppers to a serving platter. In the same cast-iron pan, sear the halloumi on the stovetop over medium-high heat until golden on both sides, about two minutes per side.
- Generously dress the eggplant and peppers with the tahini dressing, arrange the halloumi on top, and add more dressing.
- Drizzle the honey overtop and garnish with sesame seeds, mint, cilantro, green onions, and red chili. Enjoy!
KITCHEN TIP: The quality of your eggplants is what will take this dish from merely great to superstellar. Look for good, firm, heavy baby egg- plants or the best in-season Japanese eggplants.
Excerpted from Dad in the Kitchen: Over 100 Delicious Family Recipes You’ll Love to Make and They’ll Love to Eat by Cory Vitiello and Chris Johns. Copyright © 2023 Cory Vitiello and Chris Johns. Photographs by Paula Wilson. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
