Name: Small Dark Eggplants with Green Olive-Red Onion Dressing
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons diced mini-tomatoes (currant, grape, or tiny cherry); ¼ cup fine-diced red onion; 2 teaspoons sugar; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon; ⅛ teaspoon ground hot pepper or ¼ teaspoon black pepper; 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds; 4 small dark oval eggplants (5 to 7 ounces each); 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar; 3 tablespoons pitted, chopped green olives (Picholines are nice); ⅓ cup thin-sliced mint leaves; ¼ cup olive oil

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini

By Elizabeth Schneider

Published 2001

About

Small dark eggplants tend to be more bitter than other types. The following salt-and-bake technique yields mild, creamy results predictably—or as predictably as any eggplant recipe can. The topping is rich, complex, and somehow mysterious, although the components are not unusual: a mince of tart olives, red onion, and tomato mellowed with a large dose of toasty coriander seeds and freshened with mint. Offer the little boats as a first course, side, or salad. Or serve with rice or wheat pila