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Seared Aubergines & Cherry Tomatoes with Fried Lentils & Tahini Dressing

Seared Aubergines & Cherry Tomatoes with Fried Lentils & Tahini Dressing

Home   Recipes for Pulses, Grains, Seeds, Flakes, Flour, Ferments...   Seared Aubergines & Cherry Tomatoes with Fried Lentils & Tahini Dressing
lentils Lunch Summer Vegan Vegetarian

by Abra Berens

Silky soft aubergines contrast with crispy lentils in this dish, a great summer recipe from Abra Berens' Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes. Grist is packed with authoritative and wide-ranging information, recipes and inspiration for a great variety of grains, legumes and seeds.

Any grain or legume can be fried or crisped after cooking, transforming it from something soft and comforting to something crunchy and new. Abra recommends skinny aubergines for the visual effect but if using more common globe aubergines, just quarter them before cooking.

Ingredients

  • 4 to 6 Small Aubergines, (450 to 900 g total)
  • Rapeseed Oil
  • 200g Cooked Lentils - try our olive green or whole coral lentils
  • Salt, to taste
  • 225g Cherry Tomatoes, halved
  • 125ml Lemon Tahini Dressing (see below)
  • 5 Sprigs of Basil, Coriander or Parsley (or ideally a mixture)
For the Lemon Tahini Dressing
  • 125ml Tahini
  • 2 Lemons, zest and juice
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tbsp Honey
  • ½ tsp Salt

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Halve the aubergines lengthwise.
  2. In a large frying pan, heat several glugs of neutral oil over high heat until smoking. Add the lentils, season with a pinch of salt, and fry, stirring occasionally, until crisped, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and spoon the lentils from the pan, leaving the oil behind.
  3. Return the pan to the heat, season the eggplant liberally with salt, and sear, cut-side down. When all the aubergine are in the pan and seared, transfer to the oven and roast until the aubergine are tender throughout, 15 to 25 minutes depending on size.
  4. When the aubergine is cooked, transfer from the frying pan to a serving platter. Scatter the tomatoes over the aubergine and drizzle with the tahini dressing. Top with the herbs and serve.
For the Lemon Tahini Dressing
  1. Whisk together all the ingredients with 125 ml of water and adjust the seasoning as desired. Add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, to thin as you like. Store in the fridge.

Reprinted from Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes by Abra Berens with permission from Chronicle Books, 2021. Photograph © EE Berger.



Abra Berens
Abra Berens

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