Sauteed Eggplant Salad (Vegan)

The deep fried version

I posted one of my favorite eggplant salads a while back on the blog (shown over on the right).  As much as I love this salad, I was unhappy with one thing about it.  You traditionally deep fry the eggplant until cooked.  Eggplant is like a sponge so it soaks up a lot of oil during this process. I wanted to make a more health conscious eggplant salad without all the deep frying.  I decided to saute the eggplant with only 2 Tbs of canola oil and it came out perfectly.  I enjoyed it with a rice and curry meal and it was just as fabulous as the deep fried eggplant salad.  The best part was I got to indulge in more salad and not feel guilty about it.

 Ingredients:
1 large American Eggplant cut into bite size chunks
2 medium size tomatoes cut into chunkds
1/2 red onion sliced
1-3 green chilies sliced
salt  as needed
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)

Optional vegetables for salad
diced cucumber
sliced green onion
  
Dressing:
2 Tbs of rice wine vinegar
1 tsp of sugar
1 Tbs of grated ginger
1-2 clove of garlic grated
1Tbs of mustard seed
salt and black pepper to taste


Directions:
Make the dressing by putting all the ingredients in a blender or liquidizer and blend until it forms a smooth dressing.  Set dressing aside until later.

Cut eggplant and saute in 2Tbs of canola oil.  Add turmeric, some salt and red chili powder.  Saute until eggplant is cooked, but not mushy.  Turn stove off.  Cut tomatoes, onions and green chilies and add to the cooled cooked eggplant  Top with dressing and toss well.  Serve as part of a rice and curry meal.

Note:  I recommend a non-stick pan for the sauteing of the eggplant.

 
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