Greek Grilled Eggplant Salad
Category: Soups & Salads | Blog URL: http://greekgourmand.blogspot.com/2008/08/grilled-eggplant-salad.html
This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.
Ingredients
Preparation
Tools
About
This posting is all about appreciation. Appreciation for the people who visit this Greek food blog and take the time to comment when they see something they like; appreciation for those who share this blog with their friends, and those who share its contents with the world by Digging, Stumbling, or otherwise adding it to their social networks; appreciation for the many friendships I have made with other bloggers who post about their lives and passions, whether these be Greek food related or not. It continues to be my great pleasure to share my thoughts and Greek recipe selections and reflections with all of you. I am deeply moved and inspired by the encouragement and support you have shown to a perfect stranger who rambles on about Greek cooking and history and the like. Truly, your example typifies the concept of xenia (Greek notion of a guest-host relationship) and I graciously thank each and every one of you for the thoughtfulness behind your visits. We all lead busy enough lives and the fact that you took a moment to stop by and show this blog a little bit of love means the world to me, and I just thought you ought to know. Thank you.
So, enough of the mushy stuff and let me get straight into a great seasonal salad with a short introduction. One of my all-time favourite Greek restaurants in Toronto is called Pappas Grill. Like most Greek restaurants it is a family-run affair and has been a fixture in Toronto’s Greek Town for over twenty years. The food is, in a word, excellent. Their menu is quite varied and there is something on it for every palate. The wine selection is also very good and is carefully chosen to accompany the foods on the menu. The wood-burning oven and the dishes that come out of it, along with a great summertime patio are also reasons I like this place. One of my favourite appetizers at Pappas is the Grilled Eggplant dish. This seasonal eggplant salad recipe is adapted from the one on their menu, and I have been making and enjoying it for well nigh on a decade now. My wife, who ordinarily does not like eggplant all that much, is crazy about this dish.
I used eggplant, tomato, and parsley fresh out of our kitchen garden for this Greek vegetarian recipe. When I cut the eggplant, it was “dripping its honey” as they say in Greece. The tomatoes were moments from the vine, and the parsley was simply redolent with the freshness of its immediacy to hand. I cannot adequately express in words the total satisfaction of cooking and eating fresh produce from one’s own garden; it is a true delight and one of life’s most indulgent pleasures. Selah.