Roasted Eggplant Salad

Eggplants used to intimidate me. All that salting and rinsing and frying seemed too much of a hassle. It was sad, because I love eggplant. Then I learned there's an easier way: Stick the whole thing in a hot oven (500 degrees) or a covered bbq and call it a day. It worked perfectly! I poked it first a few times with a knife before I put it on the grill and then I occasionally turned it while it cooked. When the skin started to char and peel off and the eggplant sort of deflated, I took it off.


It didn't look pretty. I let it cool. Then I peeled off the skin and mixed the cooked eggplant with olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. I was available on Blackberry throughout.

This photo isn't half bad, taken by sheer good fortune just at the start of the golden hour. I'm sending it over to a blogger named Michelle. I don't know her personally, but she's got a blog I read regularly called Greedy Gourmet (I especially like the European-style date lines) and a feature called SnackShots. This month's theme is salads, so what the hell.

Jicama Salad

Jicama is so delicious I don't know why I only eat it once a year. For this salad, I cut a whole jicama into thin strips and tossed it with sliced, seeded cucumber and radishes. I made a dressing with olive oil, sherry vinegar, lime, salt, cayenne pepper, a wee bit of agave nectar (sugar is a fine substitute) and chopped mint.

Deconstructed Duck Fattoush

Warning: This dish, though easy to make and hard to screw up (everything is basically mixed, added and cooked to taste), has more steps involved than most dishes on Panzer Kitchen.

Pita: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Open a few whole-wheat pitas, drizzle them with olive oil and toast in oven until crisp.
Duck: Skin side down, rub top of duck breast with coriander seeds, salt and cayenne pepper. Heat a little olive oil in an oven-proof skillet on medium-high heat. When hot, place breast skin side down and cook until skin is very browned. Flip breast and cook until the other side is browned. Place skillet and duck in the 425-degree oven for about 10 minutes or until it reaches the desired color (we like it pink, or cooked to about160 degrees inside). Remove from heat. Slice.
Salad: In a bowl, mix julienned cucumbers, radicchio and cabbage of your choice (we used green), halved red grapes, small bunch chopped parsley, smaller bunch chopped mint, diced shallot. Toss with dressing.
Dressing: 2 parts olive oil to one part sherry vinegar, splash of honey, fresh lime juice to taste, salt, pepper. **For an even duckier flavor, deglaze the duck pan on the stove top by adding some red wine and stirring it with the leftover duck fat until mixture is slightly thickened. Add a spoonfull of the mix to the salad dressing.
Compose the salad any way you like. We layered -- placing bite-sized pieces of the pita on the bottom layer, followed by the salad and topped with duck. But you can also toss everything together so the pita gets a little moister.

Brunch for Dinner

The main ingredient is good quality pre-packaged smoked trout. From there, add on the garnishes: finely diced onion, cucumber and chive, sour cream, capers, lemon wedge. Scramble eggs, folding in sour cream for a richer texture than milk. Salad dressing, inspired by Franny's in Brooklyn, blends pine nuts, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, half a clove of raw garlic, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper (we also added a splash of walnut oil for a nuttier taste, but it's not essential) in a food processor. Toss with a simple lettuce (we used dandelion greens, but don't recommend them because their natural bitterness overwhelmed the dressing) and top with grated ricotta.

Sunday Salads

From Lenore in Miami, clockwise from top.
Salmon salad: Can of salmon, capers, parsley, lemon, olive oil, minced shallot, salt, pepper.
Egg salad: Onions, celery, salt, pepper.
Crusty bread.
Pasta salad: shells, diced red and green bell peppers, sliced black olives, mayo, celery salt, dry mustard, pepperoncini, diced cornichons, diced shallot, salt, pepper.
Roasted peppers tossed with mashed anchovies, olive oil.

Sashimi Tuna Avocado

From Talia, via the Japanese market. Cut up sushi-grade tuna, avocado, cucumber and scallions. Toss with sesame seeds, cilantro, sesame oil, wasabi, soy sauce. Serve with prepackaged wonton wrappers rubbed with olive oil and salt and baked.

Tuna

Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink tuna salad: A can of tunafish in olive oil, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onion, sliced gherkins, olives, carrots, pine nuts, ricotta, parmesan, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.