Pomegranates are in Season!
I love pomegranates and look forward to seeing them in the market each year. They can be a messy occupation, but they're oh so good!
Pomegranates also score highly on the nutritional front. Click here to see video about the potential health benefits of eating pomegranates or drinking (100% pure) pomegranate juice.
If you've never had one, you're in for a treat. There are various ways of attacking a fresh one, such as scoring them, peeling them, then opening them in a bowl of water to reduce mess. Personally, all I do is cut them in half, then score each half a bit, then pry them open. Delicious!
Over the next couple of days, I'm going to post recipes featuring pomegranates. Today's is Middle Eastern in origin and from a great cookbook, Arabesque, A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, & Lebanon, by Claudia Roden.
Batinjan Raheb
(Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Salad)
Serves 6 to 8
This ends up being an absolutely beautiful salad and holds well on a buffet table.
Ingredients:
2 to 3 eggplants (weighing about 2 lbs total)
juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon, depending on size and your taste
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 TBSP olive oil (you can minimize this or omit; I do the latter)
salt and pepper to taste
large handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
4 sprigs of fresh mint, leaves chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
handful of fresh pomegranate seeds
Prick the eggplants in a few places and roast them, bake them, or broil them until they are soft. Cool, peel, then place flesh in a sieve or colander with smaller holes and let them drain a bit, pressing on them. While still in the colander, chop them up with a knife, then mash with a fork or wooden spoon, letting the juices escape through the holes.
Mix the eggplant puree with the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped parsley, and mint (saving a bit of parsley and mint to garnish). Spread this mixture on a serving plate. Top with tomatoes, scallions, pomegranate seeds, and the remainder of the herbs. Serve at room temperature.
I love this salad.
Pomegranates also score highly on the nutritional front. Click here to see video about the potential health benefits of eating pomegranates or drinking (100% pure) pomegranate juice.
If you've never had one, you're in for a treat. There are various ways of attacking a fresh one, such as scoring them, peeling them, then opening them in a bowl of water to reduce mess. Personally, all I do is cut them in half, then score each half a bit, then pry them open. Delicious!
Over the next couple of days, I'm going to post recipes featuring pomegranates. Today's is Middle Eastern in origin and from a great cookbook, Arabesque, A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, & Lebanon, by Claudia Roden.
Batinjan Raheb
(Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Salad)
Serves 6 to 8
This ends up being an absolutely beautiful salad and holds well on a buffet table.
Ingredients:
2 to 3 eggplants (weighing about 2 lbs total)
juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon, depending on size and your taste
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 TBSP olive oil (you can minimize this or omit; I do the latter)
salt and pepper to taste
large handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
4 sprigs of fresh mint, leaves chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
handful of fresh pomegranate seeds
Prick the eggplants in a few places and roast them, bake them, or broil them until they are soft. Cool, peel, then place flesh in a sieve or colander with smaller holes and let them drain a bit, pressing on them. While still in the colander, chop them up with a knife, then mash with a fork or wooden spoon, letting the juices escape through the holes.
Mix the eggplant puree with the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped parsley, and mint (saving a bit of parsley and mint to garnish). Spread this mixture on a serving plate. Top with tomatoes, scallions, pomegranate seeds, and the remainder of the herbs. Serve at room temperature.
I love this salad.
Posted by Susan at 11/21/2009 5:40 PM 
Categories: Vegan,Fruit,Salad,Entree
Tags: Pomegranates Cookbook Eggplant
Categories: Vegan,Fruit,Salad,Entree
Tags: Pomegranates Cookbook Eggplant
Nice recipes, Susan. I've enjoyed browsing since Emily Boller linked to you in a post today. The eggplant salad with the puree spread onto a serving plate and then topped with the pretty stuff is an inspiration! I often have hummus on a salad as a kind of super-thick dressing. How much nicer the presentation done with your method! I could see doing this with a bunch of greens surrounding a medallion of a puree topped with pretties, too.
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Thanks! I think your idea of the greens sounds great too.
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