Roasted eggplant with tahini and meyer lemon dressing
February 25, 2013
— black garlic, eggplant, garlic, lemon, meatlessmonday, meyer lemon, Monday, MySmarterCommerce, Olive oil, tahini
Oh, Mondays. They still manage to sneak up on us after a fun-filled weekend {mine included a hot chocolate festival, a lovely dinner or two, and an avant garde production of Much Ado About Nothing}.
Ease into the week with this lovely meatless Monday meal – the roasted eggplant is perfectly soft and the tahini-lemon dressing recalls flavors of Mediterranean summers. What I wouldn’t give to be dipping my toes into the Med right now..!
Tips: A lot of you asked me about black garlic after the last post so, I thought I would elaborate briefly here. Despite its striking color, the garlic is fermented in a completely natural process, which takes about a month and lends it the unique sweet and vinegar-y flavor. More on the technique: here. The garlic is fairly soft, so mincing or mixing it into dressings is easy!
Roasted eggplant with tahini and meyer lemon dressing
You’ll need:
- 1 eggplant, trimmed and halved
- 1 T tahini
- juice of one meyer lemon
- 1/2 t meyer lemon zest
- 3 cloves black garlic, minced
- salt, pepper,
- olive oil
1. Preheat oven to 425F. With a sharp pairing knife, score the eggplant several times cross-wise. Lay eggplant halves on a large piece of aluminum foil, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Place right on the rack in the oven and roast for about an hour, rotating halfway through.
2. In the meantime, make the dressing. Whisk together tahini, lemon zest, and lemon juice, then slowly add about a tablespoon of olive oil – maybe a little bit more depending on the thickness of your tahini – until you get a nice emulsion. Whisk in the garlic, taste, and season to taste.
3. Serve eggplant warm, with a spoonful of dressing right on top.


