Photo of Mediterranean eggplant salad by WW

Mediterranean eggplant salad

1
Points® value
Total Time
1 hr 8 min
Prep
18 min
Cook
50 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Moderate
For maximum flavor, we roasted the eggplant and garlic in this recipe. Roasting a whole eggplant or head of garlic may sound a tad intimidating, but it is really just as easy as placing the eggplant and garlic (wrapped in foil) on a baking sheet and then letting the oven do all the work. The eggplant and garlic will cook until they becomes very tender, collapsing into a flavorful, spreadable base for this dish. You can serve it as a salad or as a dip with warm pita wedges. This recipe can be made a day in advance. Just let it come to room temperature before serving for the best flavor.

Ingredients

Garlic

1 bulb(s), a whole very small head

Uncooked eggplant

2½ pound(s), about 2 medium

Fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp

Olive oil

1 Tbsp, extra-virgin

Table salt

¾ tsp

Ground cumin

½ tsp

Dried oregano

½ tsp

Paprika

¼ tsp

Scallions

¼ cup(s), chopped, sliced, divided

Tomato

1 cup(s), diced, divided

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) or use a nonstick pan.
  2. Wrap garlic with another piece of aluminum foil. Place garlic and whole eggplants on prepared baking pan. Bake until garlic and eggplant are very tender, about 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand until cool enough to handle.
  3. Cut eggplants in half and scrape eggplant pulp into a food processor. Squeeze roasted garlic bulb into food processor (softened cloves will slide right out); add remaining ingredients, except scallions and tomato.
  4. Pulse until coarsely or finely chopped (whichever you prefer). Add 3 tablespoons of scallions; pulse to blend. Scrape eggplant mixture into serving bowl and stir in 3/4 cup of tomato; sprinkle with remaining tomato and scallions. Yields about 1/2 cup per serving.