My husband’s mother Judith was a wonderful cook. She was a sixth-generation Sephardic Jew from Israel, born on Carmel Mountain in Haifa. Judith was first and foremost a family woman who devoted her life to creating a warm and cozy home. She would spend her days in the kitchen and tending the vegetable garden, providing nurturing sustenance for her family. She cooked on a tiny tin stove and made everything from scratch. Her kitchen was full of love.
Unfortunately, I never had a chance to meet Judith. She passed away before I came into my husband’s life. Despite this, I still feel her presence strongly in our home, especially when we have family gatherings. Everybody speaks of the amazing meals she cooked, how she would spend hours and hours preparing a single meal. It amazes me how food has this power to pass on positive energy. A meal made with love can go on living long after the chef who created it is gone.
My husband’s sister Mooshi takes after her mom. She cooks with love and care, recreating Judith’s beloved dishes as well as her own creations. Last week, she shared a couple of her favorite eggplant recipes with me. I especially loved the following recipe, a cooked eggplant salad with peppers and tomatoes. It’s healthy and surprisingly filling, without any added meat or dairy. It’s meant to be served with bread, like challah– the bread can be dipped into the delicious sauce. As we cooked, Mooshi explained to me that eggplant was a staple in their childhood home. Judith often cooked eggplant because it was widely available and inexpensive. Both Mooshi and my husband adore eggplant, and now I understand why. It reminds them of Judith, of mom, of home. I hope you will enjoy this simple recipe as much as we do!
Note: If you’re gluten free, you can enjoy this recipe on its own or served as a vegan stew over rice or quinoa.
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Mooshi's Eggplant Salad
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplants
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 red or yellow bell peppers, seeded and cut into chunks
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 15 ounces tomato sauce (1 can)
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste - omit for low carb)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
NOTES
Instructions
- Peel the eggplant in stripes, keeping a few strips of skin intact so they run down the sides of the eggplant vertically. These strips of skin will help to hold the chunks of eggplant together; they also add flavor.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Cut the eggplant into 1-inch chunks. Put half of the chunks into the skillet and let them fry for about 10 minutes.
- When the cubes begin to turn golden brown, transfer them to a larger pot. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to the skillet and fry the second batch of eggplant chunks the same way, for about 10 minutes till golden brown. Transfer the chunks to the large pot.
- Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to the skillet and add the bell pepper chunks. Let them fry for about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and continue to fry for 2 more minutes, till the garlic is fragrant.
- Transfer peppers and garlic to the large pot.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, water, cumin, salt, sugar, crushed red pepper flakes and black pepper.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the large pot and bring all ingredients to a boil.Reduce heat to a medium-low simmer and cover the pot, leaving a small gap open to vent. Let the mixture slowly simmer for 1 hour till sauce is thickened and reduced. Remove from heat.
- This cooked salad can be served hot or cold depending on preference. Our family enjoys it at room temperature. You can serve it with freshly baked bread if you wish. If you’re gluten free, you can enjoy this recipe on its own or served as a vegan stew over rice or quinoa.
Nutrition
Hi Tori,
Great recipe.
For how long will it keep in the fridge?
Can it be frozen?
Hi Susie! It keeps from 4-5 days in the fridge. I think it probably could be frozen, though I haven’t tried it with this particular recipe (it usually gets eaten up pretty quickly in our home!).
Thanks to Tori for getting us through the holidays! We prepared this recipe with the challah and brisket recipe for our family meal. All were huge hits! Definitely will make this again. We actually preferred it cold the next day, but both ways were delicious
Excellent! So happy everything worked out well for you.
I made this today and it was delicious! I added around 1/2 teaspoon more cumin (I love a strong cumin flavor!) and next time I’ll add less sugar. Probably reduce to half the amount, just to compensate the acidity of the tomato sauce.
Delicious, will def do it again!
Tried this recipe right after I came back from visit to Israel (I love the packaged turkish eggplant salad they sell in the stores there). This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you!! I didn’t cook the eggplant quite enough when frying it, but next time I’ll cook it an extra couple minutes in that step. I’ll probably halve the recipe next time too, this is quite a bit for one person to try to finish on their own.
I love this dish and it’s especially great warm in cold weather. The last few times I’ve made it I’ve added a half teaspoon of smoked paprika — which I think adds another layer of sophistication to the flavors.
I make it frequently as a potluck offering and it’s almost always all eaten up!
Can’t wait to try this recipe
I made this recipe today. While taste is wonderful, the amount of liquid is way too much. Were I to make it again, I would cut the liquid by less than half.
This dish just earned 5 stars ! Easy to make, so tasty too! Thank you for sharing this fabulous recipe with me 👍
Absolutely delicious yum yum
This recipe is restaurant worthy! It’s super easy to make and the product is out of this world!!
I didn’t have fresh peppers, so I used (bottled) marinated roasted red peppers. Also, I didn’t peel the eggplant…
Thanks for sharing,
Audrey
Just made this today. I wasn’t initially inclined to make it, but the more I read in the comments, the more I knew I had to have it. I followed another commenter’s lead and roasted the veggies in the oven. They had some great caramelization which I’m sure contributed to the success of the dish. My opinion of the eggplant: when I make this again I will be trying it without peeling any of the skin off, because I really love the texture of the parts with the skin. I usually steer away from dishes that I know will have lots of leftovers, because I live alone and don’t want to deal with all that. This is one of those rare occasions when I’m happy to not have to share this food with anyone. I’m sure I’ll have it gobbled up in a couple of days!
Best eggplant recipe EVER!
I love this recipe and have found the perfect way to use leftovers. I use it as a base for shakshuka!!! It is AMAZING.