Grilled Eggplant & Quinoa Salad with Dates & Almonds

Yield

Yield: 4 servings as a side dish or 2-3 as a main dish Servings

Ingredients

  • ½ cup dry quinoa
  • ½- ¾ cup Extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 garlic clove, minced finely
  • 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • Zest from one lemon
  • ¼ cup diced Medjool dates
  • Red Pepper flakes, a few pinches
  • Sea salt, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1-2 medium eggplants, sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds
  • ½ cup finely chopped parsley
  • ¼ cup chopped or sliced almonds, toasted
  • ¼ cup mint leaves, thinly sliced (optional)

Instructions

  1. Cook the quinoa according to package instructions in salted water.  Once cooked, fluff the hot quinoa with a fork and allow the steam to dissipate.  Transfer to a medium bowl.
  2. Add 1 tsp olive oil, minced garlic, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, lemon zest, dates, and red pepper flakes.  Season with salt and black pepper.  Set aside.
  3. Grill the eggplant.  Heat a grill to medium-high heat or use a grill pan on a stove top.  Using a pastry brush, lightly brush each slice of eggplant with olive oil on both sides and season with a touch of salt and black pepper.  Grill 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until there are distinct grill marks.  You want the eggplant to be very soft and tender.  Thus, if it needs to cook a little longer, you may need to move the slices to a cooler part of the grill to finish cooking, or finish cooking them in a 350°F oven.  If you do not have a grill or a grill pan, you can also cook the eggplant using the broiler in your oven.
  4. Once the eggplant is fully cooked, cut the slices into bite-sized diced pieces.  You want about 1 ½ cups of eggplant for this salad.  If your eggplant yielded more than that, save it and store in the refrigerator for another use.
  5. Add the grilled eggplant to the bowl with the quinoa.  At this time you can also add the parsley, almonds and mint (if using) to the bowl.  Stir gently to combine all the ingredients and take a moment to taste the salad.  Add additional lemon juice, salt and/or olive oil as needed.
  6. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

Optional Add-Ins: This salad is delicious just as written, but you can also adapt it to your liking.  If you’re eating this as a main dish salad, you may want to add some cooked chickpeas or diced cooked chicken.  A crumbling of feta may also be a nice addition.

Recipe inspired by a recipe for “Grilled Eggplant” published by loveandlemons.com.

For more amazing recipes featuring vegetables from your CSA boxes, visit our recipe archives!

 

 

Grilled Eggplant & Quinoa Salad with Dates & Almonds
Grilled Eggplant & Quinoa Salad with Dates & Almonds
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