You can thank Kyle’s chef crush, Yotam Ottolenghi, for our latest recipe post – Roasted Eggplant with Lentil and Tomato. It comes from his latest cookbook, Simple, which, coincidentally, is home to Kyle’s favorite Brussel Sprouts recipe. The recipes in Simple are sorted into easy categories, including short ingredient lists, quick prep times, make-ahead meals, and one that should be everybody’s favorite: lazy-day dishes. All of these recipes are loaded with fresh produce, making them ideal dishes for summertime cooking.
Simple offers a wide variety of recipes that are versatile the whole year through – a well-suited array of meals for all seasons. In addition, it is beautifully illustrated containing mouthwatering photography making it hard to resist getting up to cook everything in it. This lentil dish features fresh eggplant and tomatoes, which are currently bountiful at local markets or (if you have the magic touch of keeping a vegetable garden alive) your own backyard.
This recipe certainly lives up to the cookbook’s title, it is easy to prepare and perfectly suited for the lazy days of summer – with delicious results. The effort-to-flavor ratio is so ridiculous, one feels guilty eating it. Once the eggplant is roasted, you let it sit in the colander for about 30 minutes, during which time you can cook up the lentils and tomatoes.
Once they are cooked, you fold everything together with some lemon, garlic, oregano and Greek yogurt and you are done. The pop! of the cherry tomatoes plays nicely with the firmness of the al dente lentils, while the creamy yogurt adds a bit of richness. This all creates quite the symphony of flavors and textures, leaving you pondering how such a wonderful dish was so very easy to prepare.
The recipe is so easy and delicious that it can be prepared in advance and served straight from the fridge. You know, on those days it is so sweltering hot that the thought of cooking or reheating anything makes you want to cry. Well, problem solved! This dish is there for you!
Ah – roasting the eggplant! If you have a gas stove top, you can roast the eggplant directly over the open flame. This results in a deep, smoky flavor that really takes the dish to the next level. If you do not own a gas stove (I’m guilty) – do not fret! Ottolenghi provides instructions for roasting the eggplant in the oven (Kyle has provided both methods in the recipe). Just keep in mind, the roasted flavor will not be as pronounced in the oven-roasted version.
However, if you have a grill, we highly recommend grilling the eggplant whole instead of roasting it in the oven. This way the smoky flavor will be closer to the original, flame-roasted version. AND – this way there is no need to heat up your oven in the middle of our gazillionth heat wave.
In our picture, you are viewing the half-batch of the recipe Kyle prepared. He immediately regretted his half-batch decision when there ended up being a severe lack of delicious leftovers. The recipe he included contains the original 4-portion ingredient amounts listed in Ottolenghi’s cookbook.
I know the summer season is winding down, but there is still a plethora of veggies to create delicious, fresh dishes. This recipe in particular takes that fresh and easy feel of summer to a whole other level. Enjoy!
Adapted from Simple.
- 4 small (or 2 large) eggplants (weighing about 2 lb 6 oz/1.1 kg) pricked a few times with a knife
- 10 oz/300 g cherry tomatoes
- ¾ cup/160 g green lentils
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 3 tbsp oregano leaves
- Salt and black pepper
- 6 tbsp Greek-style yogurt
- Heat the oven to 475 F/250 C, or its highest setting. Put the eggplants on two baking trays and roast for an hour, turning them halfway, until the flesh is completely soft and slightly smoky. Remove and, once cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a colander (discard the skins) and leave in the sink or over a bowl for 30 minutes, so any excess liquid drains away.
- Scatter the tomatoes on one of the now-empty aubergine trays and roast for 12 minutes, until slightly blackened, split and soft.
- Alternatively, if you have a gas stovetop, line your stove top with foil, and cook the eggplants over the open flame (this will intensify the smoky flavor of the dish), turning occasionally with long tongs until all sides of the eggplants are burnt, about 15 to 20 minutes. While the eggplant drains, cook the tomatoes in a large skillet over medium-high heat until they are slightly blackened, split and soft, about 10 to 12 minutes.
- While the eggplant drains, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, add the lentils and a dash of salt, turn down the heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes, until they’re cooked but still have some bite. Drain and set aside to steam dry a little.
- Tip the lentils into a large bowl and add the eggplant, tomatoes, oil, lemon juice, garlic, four tablespoons of oregano, one and a half teaspoons of salt and lots of pepper. Mix to combine, then spoon into a shallow serving bowl. Top with yogurt and swirl it through to create white streaks. Sprinkle the remaining oregano, drizzle with a little oil and serve.
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