Soft and silky roasted eggplant, leeks and red cabbage are tossed with blanched green beans, toasted almonds and a sweet and tangy tamarind vinaigrette. A delicious side dish or vegetarian main dish!
There are so many different recipes I want to make for you guys that it’s hard to pick which ones I’m going to do next. I do realized that I post a lot of vegetarian recipes, and while this is not a strictly vegetarian blog, that is what I end up loving to share. I eat meat, but I really love the way I feel when I eat a mostly vegetarian diet. And the whole idea behind The Cheerful Kitchen was to share recipes that I love, that make me feel good and that make me happy to prepare. So, you get a lot of vegetables, and I’m not even sorry about it! There are so many different ways to prepare vegetables that make them light up with flavors and textures you may not have experienced before, and this Roasted Eggplant + Veggies with Tamarind Vinaigrette is an excellent example of that.
Lets go through the textures of this dish
First, you have the roasted eggplant. Raw eggplant is a little bit squishy like a sponge. However, when you cook it thoroughly it softens and becomes very silky.
What is blanching?
Second, you have blanched green beans. Blanching something is just cooking it very quickly so that you get the raw flavor out, and then you submerge it in cold water to stop the cooking. This way, the green beans lose that raw crunch and take on a bright green color with a very lightly cooked crispness that is an excellent contrast to the smooth, soft eggplant.
Third, there are roasted red cabbage and leeks. Both of these vegetables get soft and caramelized in the oven. Roasting brings out all of the natural sugars in any vegetable you are cooking, so there is a roasty sweetness that slowly develops, elevating your ingredients.
Lastly, toasted almonds. That nutty crunch sprinkled on the top of your cooked vegetables is just the finishing touch needed to put this dish over the top. The sticky tamarind vinaigrette coats the vegetables and makes the toasted almonds cling to every bite, so there is a little bit of each texture and flavor in every forkful.
If making as a side dish, it would compliment pork particularly well. Roasted chicken would also stand up as a partner to this substantial vegetable medley.
I promise I will come at you soon with a carnivorous meal. In fact, I’m testing out a recipe for Lamb Ragu that is very promising, and I’m also working on a one pan meal with pork loin as the star. But, for now, give this Roasted Eggplant + Veggies with Tamarind Vinaigrette a shot. I think you’ll be surprised at how much you like it.
The Cheerful Kitchen
Roasted Eggplant + Veggies with Tamarind Vinaigrette is a hearty side dish that is sweet, tart, nutty, crunchy and silky, all in one.
15 minPrep Time
45 minCook Time
1 hrTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 tsp tamarind paste
- 1/2 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon raw honey
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 medium eggplant
- 3 leeks, white and light green parts only
- 1lb green beans, cleaned and trimmed
- 1/2 head red cabbage
- 1/4 cup toasted almonds
- Salt & Pepper for seasoning
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and put a medium sized pot of water on to boil.
- Combine all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a bowl and whisk together until combined. Set aside.
- Cut eggplant into bite sized cubes and place in a large bowl.
- Cut the dark green tops off the leeks and discard leaving only the bottom light green and white part. Cut the leeks in half. Rinse under cool running water thoroughly. Dirt gets between the layers of the leek when it grows, so make sure you open it up and rinse it all out well. Then, slice the leeks into half inch thick half moons. Put all your sliced leeks into the bowl with the eggplant.
- Cut the red cabbage up into bite sized pieces and also put into the bowl with the other veggies.
- Drizzle the veggies with the olive oil and season with some salt and pepper. Stir it all up with a large spoon to coat wit the oil and seasonings, then pour half of the bowl's contents onto each of two parchment paper lined baking sheets.
- Put the baking sheets in the oven on different racks and roast for 45 minutes. Half way through, stir the vegetables around and switch the positions of the baking sheets to make sure everything is cooked evenly.
- While the vegetables are roasting, blanch your green beans. (Have a large bowl half filled with ice water standing by) After you've rinsed and trimmed the stem end of your green beans, put them into your pot of boiling water. Stir them around and make sure all the beans are submerged, then boil for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, immediately put the green beans into the ice water bath for 1 minute. After one minute in the ice water bath, remove the green beans to a cutting board and cut them into bite sized pieces. Set them aside for later.
- When the vegetables are done roasting, put them in a large bowl along with your blanched green beans. Pour 1/2 of the vinaigrette over the veggies and stir them up. Pour the other 1/2 of the vinaigrette over the veggies and stir them up again. Sprinkle the top with almonds and serve. Enjoy!
If you would like more vegetarian ideas, try these:
Chickpea Meatballs + Quick Marinara Sauce
Sweet Potato + Kale Breakfast Stir Fry
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