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Roasted eggplant with zaatar, served over rice or grains with lemony tahini sauce or tzatzki sauce.

Zaatar if unfamiliar, is a blend of Middle Eastern spices that can be made at home or that can be purchased.

Tangy, earthy,Middle Eastern flavors compliment luscious roasted eggplant and with only 15 minutes of prep, the oven does the rest of the work. A simple, healthy weeknight dinner that will satisfy. Serve over rice or whole grains with seasonal veggies like tomatoes, cucumber or radishes, and lemony tahini sauceor even the cucumber dill tzatziki.

Ingredients

• 1 gram globe eggplant ( about 1– 1 ⅛ lb)
• 1,5 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon zataar spice mix- or see notes (or use store-bought zaatar!)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
• 1 clove fat garlic

served with

• 2 cups cooked rice or grains ( freekeh, farro, quinoa)
• 1 – 2 cup fresh chopped veggies- tomato, cucumber, radish, grated carrot or beets

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Slice Eggplant in half, then slice deeply at a diagonal at one-inch intervals -“crosshatching”( see photos above) careful not to cut through skin.
3. Season each side with ⅛ teaspoon salt, sprinkling it into the slices if possible.
4. Mix oil, spices, garlic together in a bowl to make a paste. Brush or spoon the entire contents over the eggplant and place on a sheet pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour rotating halfway through. After an hour, pierce with a fork and if they are very tender and juicy, they are done. Bigger eggplants may take longer.
5. In the meantime, cook the grain and chop or prep any other veggies.
6. When the eggplant is done, assemble the plates, topping the warm rice or grain with the roasted eggplant, then surround with fresh veggies and drizzle with tahini sauce or tzatziki– or you could simply season the fresh veggies and rice with salt, lemon and olive oil. Add olives or vegan cheese if you wish. Sprinkle fresh parsley.

Notes

Notes- If you don’t have Zaatar–  use a substitution of:  ½  teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon coriander,  1 teaspoon sumac  (and if you don’t have sumac, sub 1 teaspoon lemon zest -or finely chopped preserved lemon),  ½ teaspoon dried oregano or thyme , ½ teaspoon sesame seeds and a pinch salt.

If using smaller eggplant, cross-hatching may not be necessary, and roasting time will shorten significantly – check after 30 minutes, and cook until very fork-tender. If using extra large globe eggplant, cooking time may increase.