Eggplant salad (Al-Raheb) ألراھب

I first tasted this salad at a wedding party in Lebanon. Weddings there can be extremely lavish affairs. This was part of a huge buffet and after tasting it, I was hooked. It is light and fresh tasting.

I have no idea why this salad is called Monk’s salad. Presumably monks liked it because it was fresh and frugal, made with the yield of their vegetable garden. Mountains in Lebanon are peppered with monasteries, some are very remote and some are even carved in rocks! One time a friend of the family, May, invited us to eat at a monastery in the Kesrouan region. We were served all kinds of dishes and ate very well for a song.

This salad can be stuffed in a pita bread for a light lunch.

From Lina Bassam Shbaro’s Al tabekh al-Arabi

INGREDIENTS: This quantity will feed 8 people

• 2 lbs eggplants, preferably the long and thin kind
• 2 green peppers
• 1 medium onion
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 lb tomatoes, preferably vine tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon of pomegranate molasses (optional)
• 1 or 2 jalapeno peppers (optional)
• 1 heaped tablespoon of mashed garlic with salt or toom
• 1 bunch of Italian parsley, washed and dried and stems cut out

METHOD:

1. Bake the eggplants first. Place them on a piece of foil, on a cookie sheet, and roast them in a 350F oven for about 30 minutes until they are very soft and blistered all over. Let them cool.
2. Prepare all the salad ingredients: chop the tomatoes in small dice, chop the green peppers, jalapenos (if using), chop the onion and green onions, and also the parsley leaves very fine.
3. Make the dressing: mash the garlic with some salt (about 6 cloves at least) or use a tablespoon of your toom, add the pomegranate molasses (if using), lemon juice and olive oil.
4. When the eggplants have cooled sufficiently, with a sharp knife cut them vertically through the middle and with a grapefruit spoon scrape all the flesh from the eggplants. Place the flesh in a large sieve to drain for a few minutes, then press the bitter juice from the flesh.
5. Take the juiced out flesh of the eggplants and mash it slightly either by hand or in a food processor, by pulsing a few seconds. Add all the other ingredients, mix them all up with the dressing and taste.

If it is to your liking, pile the salad on a serving plate and enjoy!