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Thai Vegetable and Smoky Eggplant Salad

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Thai Vegetable and Smoky Eggplant Salad

  • healthy HEALTHY
  • staff favorite STAFF FAVORITE
TOTAL TIME: 40 MIN
SERVES: 4
The Good News Brooks Brown balances the freshness and crunch of raw carrot, cucumber and cherry tomatoes with soft, smoky eggplant seasoned with a lime juice, soy and chile dressing. This salad delivers a delicious assortment of nutrient-rich vegetables—and is completely enticing.
ingredients
  • 2 long purple eggplants (1 1/2 pounds each)
  • 8 fresh kaffir lime leaves, minced, or 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 red Thai chile, minced
  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 Hass avocado—halved, pitted and thinly sliced
  • 1 large carrot, cut into thin julienne strips
  • 1 medium English cucumber, thinly sliced crosswise
  • 1/2 pound cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • Snipped chives, for garnishing
  • 3 tablespoons chopped mint
  • 1/2 cup roasted cashews, coarsely chopped
directions
  1. Light a grill. Using a fork, prick the eggplants in a few places. Grill over high heat, turning occasionally, until the eggplants are very soft and blackened all over, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and let cool slightly. Cut the stems off the eggplants and scrape off the charred skin. Tear the eggplants into long strips and discard the seeds. Transfer to a bowl.
  2. In a small bowl, mix the lime leaves with the lime juice, soy sauce, chile, brown sugar, garlic and lemon zest. Stir 3 tablespoons of the dressing into the eggplant. Arrange the eggplant, avocado, carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and red onion on a platter. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the vegetables. Sprinkle the chives, mint and cashews over the salad and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The smoky eggplant salad can be prepared through Step 1 and refrigerated overnight.

NOTES One Serving 314 Calories, 16 gm Total Fat, 2.6 gm Saturated Fat, 41 gm Carbohydrates, 13 gm Fiber.

Recipe by Celia Brooks Brown
From The Worldly Vegetarian
This recipe originally appeared in August, 2006.