I have a confession to make: I have a hard time considering eggplant a summer vegetable. I know that it grows in the sunshine, right in between the tomatoes and the basil, but its silky, melting texture is what I want in wintertime. It's light yet satisfying, the perfect comfort food for January. Some people guiltily buy avocados in winter; others, pineapple. Me, I buy eggplant. And when I do, I make this salad.
This is not a cold salad (although you could eat it cold; it's quite good at room temperature). But it's best warm and straight out of the oven.
The eggplant is tossed with olive oil and a touch of vinegar, smoked paprika and cumin, and roasted until soft and buttery. Then I toss it with chopped smoked, salted almonds, goat cheese, parsley, and a touch of lemon. It's comforting yet fresh, hearty yet light. Smoky, a little tangy, rich.
This is good all on its own, or as a side dish to a bit of chicken or steak. I especially like it piled up on a piece of whole wheat toast as an open-faced sandwich. It lasts well, too — a bowl of this makes a week of lunches for me.

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Smoked Almonds & Goat Cheese
serves 4
2 large eggplants, about 2 pounds
Kosher salt
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon, about 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup flat parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup smoked almonds, roughly chopped
2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled and divided
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
Heat the oven to 400°F. Cut the eggplant into 1-inch cubes and put in a large bowl. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and set aside while making the marinade.
Whisk together the olive oil, cider vinegar, honey, smoked paprika, and cumin. Dab away any extra water that has beaded up on the eggplant and toss with the marinade. Stir in the garlic. Spread the eggplant on a large baking sheet, lined with parchment and slide onto a rack placed in the center of the oven. Roast at 400°F for 40 minutes, or until very tender and slightly browned. (Stir every 15 minutes and check after 30 minutes to make sure it isn't burning.) Remove from the oven and cool slightly.
Whisk together the lemon juice and soy sauce. Return the eggplant to the bowl and toss with the lemon juice mixture. Stir in the parsley leaves, smoked almonds, and most of the goat cheese, reserving a little.
Spread the finished salad in a serving bowl and sprinkle the reserved goat cheese crumbles and scallions on top.
More Eggplant:
• Eggplant Caponata Sandwiches with Mozzarella
• End of Summer Recipe: Grilled Eggplant Topped with Goat Cheese and Tomato
• A Roundup Of Eggplant
• Recipe: Braised Eggplant and Tomatoes
• Lentils With Broiled Eggplant
(Images: Faith Durand)
Mick Haigh Bowls fr...

Comments (29)
That is so lovely, I cannot even begin. Looks amazing. Will have to try soon!
That looks delicious. And the flavor combo of the smoked paprika and cumin with the lemon juice and creamy goat cheese sounds fantastic. Thanks for the great idea.
This looks delightful! Just printed the recipe and will be making it THIS week!
This is a great dish. We have a roasted eggplant dish that uses less ingredients but is equally good: roasted Italian eggplant
I don't know where I would get smoked almonds... Would plain work ok?
@Katybelle, plain would also work just fine, although smoked give a nice extra smokiness to this dish. And they can be found in pretty much any grocery store, right next to the regular roasted almonds in the snack aisle. Major nut brands: Diamond, Emerald, etc.
Printed this out as well as the fennel, chickpea and couscous recipe. Both sound delicious.....I'll probably try this with long Japanese eggplants and cut the recipe in half.
I agree @katybelle, the smoked almonds don't sound good to me either, but overall, looks good.
Faith, you always have the BEST recipes! I'm still making the kale/orzo/sweet potato fry-up from a couple months back. Keep these coming!
I made this without the almonds and scallions and it was wonderful! I also didn't read the directions very well and accidently added the lemon juice and soy sauce before roasting - oops! Still turned out great and I look forward to making it the "proper" way...
It went really well with whole wheat linguine, btw.
I couldn't wait to make this and it was amazing. I didn't have smoked almonds in the house but toasted pumpkin seeds worked really nicely.
(if and) when my kitchen reno is complete, and I can cook again, this will be among the first things made in there. Maybe next week..... Thanks!
mouthwatering. can't wait to make this!
I made this last night and had it for dinner and lunch today on toasted multi-grain bread. It was delicious. I used regular paprika and almonds and it worked fine. I like the depth of flavor that the soy sauce and cumin gives it. Wonderful. It makes a lot though so I'll probably half this next time. I'm freezing a small tub-hopefully it holds up okay.
Love this, just popped it in the oven. I am a vegan and was pleased at this easy to veganize recipe!
This sounds like the perfect way to use up some goat cheese that I have in the refrigerator!
This looks delicious! I have already-minced garlic (love the convenience of the Trader Joe's jar, even if fresh garlic is better) - do I need to worry about this burning as the eggplant roasts? Thanks!
I made a half batch and ate the whole thing. Will be making it again soon. SOOOOO DELICIOUS!
Just pulled out a batch of burnt eggplant. Bummer. 40 minutes at 400 was WAY too much. Maybe you should suggest tossing the eggplant a little at about 20 minutes. It might have let me know how fast my eggplant was cooking.
Well...I have all the ingredients (except the eggplant), so I'll try again another night this week. I'm cranky now, though, for having to toss all that food. Sigh.
I am obsessed with this recipe. I didn't have almonds, so I used pine nuts, figuring they still add a crunch. So good - permanently going in my lunch rotation.
Thanks!
@Emberz - good to know - sorry about that! I did check this eggplant every 15 minutes and I felt like 40 minutes was the inside edge for done-ness -- it really has to get soft and caramelized as much as possible. I could have left it in 10 minutes longer, in my oven, and it would have been fine.
So I do wonder about oven differences - do you by chance have a convection oven?
I just made this - it was a yummy combo of flavors. I used a soy-based teriyaki in place of soy sauce because I didn't realize I was out! 40 minutes worked for me. I didn't love the eggplant skin on - is that just me, or was I to cut the skin off?
This was absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I was wondering if anyone could suggest an ingredient I could use in place of the eggplant. This is so good that I would make this again despite the fact that my stomach doesn't do so well with eggplant, but maybe I could find a replacement? Plus, my 20-month-old seems to have an aversion to slippery foods. Thanks!
I made this tonight because it was the only recipe I could find to use up some smoked almonds in my pantry. It was delicious! I do think next time though that I would like it better with cilantro instead of parsley. I'm usually ambivalent about parsley, but since there was quite a lot of it, I think the cilantro would be a good substitution that would go even better with the other flavors.
Made this last night and I am only sad I didn't make more! I used a combination of cilantro and parsley per the above suggestion and the flavors worked really well. I have a convection oven and did 40 minutes at 375 - nicely browned eggplant.
Is it possible to do this on a grill? In foil maybe? It's over 100 this week, and I'm avoiding cooking inside like the plague :)
DELICIOUS!!!!!!
i didn't have cheese, so I didn't put that in. Used regular semi toasted almonds.
I had some smoky roasted eggplant that I made for baba ganoush, so I added that in as well...
SO SO good!!!!!!!!!
I was not a fan of this recipe. You can't like everything all of the time, I suppose.
I made a simplified version of your salad and oh my God, this is THE recipe of this year. Thank you!
http://foodforthought-jelena.blogspot.com/2012/09/topla-salata-od-patlidzana-sa-bademom-i.html