Eggplant Salad

Here is an eggplant salad from the Moosewood New Classics cookbook. It is really good plus it is a pleasant way to eat eggplant on a hot summer day.

5 cups peeled eggplant (in 1 inch cubes)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 large cucumber (peeled)
1 pepper
2 tomatoes
2 scallions

Bake the cubed eggplant on 450 for about 25 minutes stirring every 10 minutes. The should be soft and diminished when the are done. Slice the scallion, cucumber, tomatoes and pepper.

Prepare marinade:
1/4 cup lime juice
1 Tbsp lime zest
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp fish or soy sauce
1 or 2 Tbsp fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped Thai basil
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
chili to taste

Whisk marinade and add to eggplant. Let sit for a bit (they say an hour). Combine with the salad. We like to serve this with noodles (say rice noodles or vermicelli). In this form I find it can be a meal (though you may want to add some tofu for protein). It can be good with a bit more eggplant (which is the star) and marinade.

Enjoy!