Roasted Eggplant and Red Bell Pepper Salad

After making revisions to an Italian recipe for antipasto, I came up with this eggplant salad dish. It is not as time intensive as it appears; many of the steps can be performed simultaneously.

Step: 1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly oil a foil-lined baking sheet. Place bell peppers, cut-sides down, on the baking sheet.

Step: 2

Bake in the preheated oven until beginning to char, about 45 minutes.

Step: 3

While peppers roast, score eggplant flesh deeply in a diamond cross-hatch pattern with the tip of a knife. Press on the edges of the halves to open the cuts and sprinkle salt over the surface and into the cuts. Set aside, cut-sides up, for 30 minutes.

Step: 4

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Gently squeeze the eggplant over the sink to extract the salty juice and wipe them dry with a paper towel. Brush each half with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Arrange each half, cut-side down, on the lined baking sheet.

Step: 5

Remove bell peppers from the oven and cover with a dish towel. Let stand for 5 minutes. Leave the oven on.

Step: 6

Roast eggplant in the preheated oven until tender, about 45 minutes. Peel, seed, and slice the peppers while eggplant is roasting.

Step: 7

Whisk 3 tablespoons olive oil, balsamic, garlic, and chili sauce together in a separate bowl. Slice 4 artichoke hearts; reserve any remaining artichoke hearts for another use.

Step: 8

Let eggplant cool for at least 20 minutes before handling. Turn flesh-side up. Use a kitchen knife to scrape the flesh from the skin. Divide the flesh along the score lines into cubes. Discard skin.

Step: 9

Combine eggplant, bell peppers, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl. Sprinkle with pepper. Pour dressing over vegetables and mix together. Garnish with basil leaves.

Per Serving: 315 calories; protein 7.5g; carbohydrates 39.3g; fat 16.6g; sodium 336.2mg.

One of most clear way to choose a side dish is to look at your main dish (pasta, chicken, seared tofu) and choose something different. When you’re cooking pasta, go for a simple vegetable . Made steak? Go for more light. If you’re making stir-fry with rice, it must not a best idea to adjust with make a rice salad.

This also can apply to cooking method . You don’t want to overcommit your oven by scheduling three dishes at once in there, or be juggling four pans on the cooking items . But often you can make a dish do more often .