Ingredients:
- Two-three medium sized eggplants
- One onion
- A couple of cherry tomatoes
- Few drops of lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Spices: salt, pepper
Preparation:
- With a sharp knife, poke some holes in the eggplants (prevents them from blowing up while cooking).
- Either grill the eggplants, or bake them in the oven (flip them occasionally). Note that the eggplants leak a lot of juice while cooking, so consider baking them in a metal tray that's not very shallow. The eggplans are cooked when a knife easily goes all the way through the eggplants (after about 30-40 minutes).
- Peel the eggplants: you can either cut each in two and scoop out the interior with a spoon, or slowly peel the exterior away (periodically dip your fingers in cold water to avoid burns). Try to remove as many of the seeds as you can. Let drain for four hours, or overnight.
- Mash the eggplants with a fork, or puree them in a blender.
- Add a few drops of lemon juice. About three should usually be enough, but that certainly depends on the size of your eggplants. If you don't have lemon juice, a few tablespoons of mayonnaise will also do the trick.
- Chop the onion, and mix as much as you want with the eggplants. As a Romanian, I'd probably use all of it - I love the taste and the crunchiness. If you further want to avoid the after-smell, you may want to lightly broil the chopped onion in a bit of oil separately, then mix with the eggplants.
- Finely dice the cherry tomatoes, and add to the mixture. Also, add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Mix thoroughly.
- Chill in the fridge before serving.
Presentation:
- Lightly toast some slices of bread (for texture and color), and spread the eggplant salad on top. Add a few thin slices of tomatoes on top.
- Alternatively, stuff some larger tomatoes with the eggplant salad, and present next to a few toasted slices of bread. The guests can then spread the salad over the bread slices themselves.
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