Sunday 8 May 2011

Forever Nigella #5: Griddled Aubergine Salad

The theme for this month's Forever Nigella challenge created by Sarah at Maison Cupcake and hosted by Dom at Belleau Kitchen, is all about salad days. Yes, people including myself, might not associate Nigella with salads, but there are actually some very delicious salad recipes in her collections and one of my favourites is this griddled aubergine salad.


There is a temptation to eat this salad straight-away after griddling, but the taste actually gets better as it cools to room temperature, so be patient. The original recipe which can be found below calls for snipped chives, but I couldn't find any chives today at the market or supermarket, so I used fresh coriander instead which is lovely as well.

This salad makes a great accompaniment for Sunday lunch or dinner with roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and peas. But for now, I'm very happy to enjoy this salad with thick slices of olive bread and a tub of green olives... my lazy Sunday meal...

Griddled Aubergine Salad
Recipe by Nigella Lawson
From Nigella Bites series

2 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil, plus more
1 aubergine
1 tablespoon snipped chives
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 a lemon, juiced

Place the garlic oil into a shallow dish. Slice the aubergine into long, thin slices and then place into the garlic oil, turning to coat.

Preheat the griddle or stove top grill pan and then place each aubergine slice onto the grill. Cook about 2 - 3 minutes per side. Remove the grilled aubergine slices to a platter and drizzle with more garlic oil. Season with coarse salt, black pepper, lemon juice and snipped chives. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

19 comments:

  1. I'm guessing the slices must have been quite thin since they were on the griddle for so short a time?

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  2. Simple and lovely!!! I might have to make this tonight :)

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  3. Fresh ingredients, simply prepared and full of flavour. How good is that? Sometimes we all are guilty of "over preparing" I think.

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  4. Ooh, this looks wonderful! I need to find one of Nigella's salads...and soon :)

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  5. And now I know what I am going to make for a dinner today :-)
    Great blog Michael!

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  6. Nom, Nom, Nom! This is gorgeous and lovely and perfect. I adore eggplant and they present so beautifully. :) Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Very nice, I dont use eggplant enough. This might need to change soon.

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  8. this is such a great time to have grilled eggplant or anything grilled around here, it is that time of year when that is about all we think about and veggies are always welcomed on my plate...

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  9. This is the sort of salad I CAN imagine Nigella having in her books- sensual, warm, and not green!
    Sounds very much like the a soused eggplant dish I make, but I use red wine vinegar and mint instead of lemon and coriander (or chives). It also works really well for courgettes.

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  10. What a delicious and simple side dish! I love that you kept it easy and really let the flavor of the vegetable shine through by adding so few flavorings. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe and new idea!

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  11. Michael-Just love the perfect grill marks on that beautiful eggplant...and as a salad, it is over the top delicious:DDD

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  12. A snap to make and fabulous to eat! I love eggplant and grilling is the perfect way to serve it in the summer!

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  13. Love eggplants... and this recipe is so simple and yet so tasty...what I am looking for. Love anything grilled, so why not eggplants? Hope you are having a great week Michael :-)

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  14. Forever summer always makes its appearance back onto my table this time of year and this recipe is a delightful looking one I have yet to try. It sounds so easy too! Next time, invite me over, ok? ;)

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  15. That looks fantastic...I love grilled eggplant, so great in the summer or warm weather months :)

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  16. This is an understatedly sexy salad, Michael...Just like Nigella! You grill so perfectly, I'm a little envious.

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  17. I love aubergines and don't eat them often enough, the stripes when you griddle stuff are so satisfying! Thanks for taking part in Forever Nigella, sorry I've been a bit lax of late managing to visit entries promptly but I get there in the end!

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  18. I know I'm a decade or so out of date, but having just seen a repeat of the show on television where Nigella cooked this scrumptious dish, I feel bound to comment. I am in Australia by the way but lived in London 2007/2008. I am delighted by all the comments and their positivity. I read loads of recipes from many countries and the Brit comments are all so positive, as I said. On US sites however, the comments range from daft, as you might say, through to offensive to the recipe author. They offer thoughts such as 'too much sugar' 'I don't like parsnip' 'I can't eat anchovies' 'I'm allergic to prawns' 'it would be better without ginger' 'why don't you cook it sous vide?' and so on and so forth. I have been tempted to comment, but then figure I'll appear as mad as a box of frogs...like them! I adored the griddled aubergine recipe by the way!

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