Aubergines with lentil tabbouleh
Pan-fried aubergine slices spiced with za'atar on top of some herby lentil tabbouleh with tahini dressing.
Ingredients
Aubergines
- 2 aubergines
- olive oil to fry
- za'atar or baharat, ras el hanout, cumin,...
Tabbouleh
- 125 g dried lentils green, brown, black
- splash of olive oil
- 50 g fresh parsley
- 50 g fresh mint
- ½ tbsp sumac
- ½ red onion
- 2 tomatoes
- 20 g walnuts
Tahini yoghurt
- 100 ml yoghurt
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ lemon juiced
- 1 small clove of garlic crushed
Instructions
- Put the lentils in a pot with plenty of lightly salted water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 25-30 minutes until cooked with a little bite. (Check the package of your lentils for the exact cooking time.) Drain, dress with a drizzle of olive oil and set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, slice the aubergines in 1 cm disks. Sprinkle on salt and leave in a sieve or on some kitchen paper to drain out excess moisture. Turn the slices occasionally.
- Toast the walnuts in a dry pan or the oven and break them up (or chop them). Also chop the parsley, mint, tomatoes and onion. Add everything to a mixing bowl, including the sumac, and also add the lentils when they have cooled down enough.
- In a separate bowl, add all the ingredients for the tahini yoghurt dressing.
- With kitchen paper, pat dry the aubergine slices (this will also get rid of excess salt). Put oil in a frying pan and when it's hot, cover the base with aubergine slices. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, the slices should be golden and soft on the inside. Sprinkle with za'atar (or whatever spice mix you are using).
- Put tabbouleh in a shallow dish, drizzle with a little bit of the sauce, and put the aubergines on top. Drizzle on some sauce again and sprinkle on some more za'atar and/or sumac to make it look pretty. Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe works with any kind of lentil you like or have, except for red lentils, they are more suited for soups and sauces, as they break up in the cooking process.
Instead of za'atar, you can use baharat, ras el hanout, cumin,...
Instead of tahini yoghurt, you can also use tahini sauce to make this recipe vegan. Just as tasty!
Use up whatever veggies you have in the fridge in the tabbouleh. Cucumber or bell peppers would be great also.
Adapted from Delicious magazine.