Eggplant Salad

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I write also for Squidoo and I also evaluate other people's "lenses" (I'm what they call an Angel). So this means I often float around the site looking for other "lenses" (Squidoo's word for article). I was looking through vegan "lenses" and I found one I liked: The Tastiest Vegetarian Sandwich Fillings.

I liked the sound of the "Roasted Eggplant Cream", (I also loved the graphic that was with it) and, so, when I was out shopping yesterday at the local health food co-op and they had two gorgeous, nice firm eggplants, I decided to "do it".

I took the eggplants, washed them, cut off the stems and cut them in half lengthwise, put the halves down on parchment paper and tin foil on a cookie sheet. I roasted them in the oven at about 400 or so degrees until soft -- then I broiled it on low for a few minutes. I scooped out the eggplant, put it and 2/3 cup of cashews and some chopped sauteed garlic (I chopped up some garlic -- about 6 or 7 cloves -- let it sit for 30 minutes -- sauteed the garlic and used half for my sauteed kale, which I put into my salads, and the other half for the eggplant) and then I added turmeric, coriander, paprika and cumin (about 1 teaspoon of the first three and 1/2 teaspoon of the cumin). I also sprayed a few spritzes of olive oil (I have a spray bottle that my friend "Michelle Nevada" gave me for a birthday a number of years ago) and pureed in a food processor until smooth (there were still small pieces of the cashew in there -- if you want it totally smooth, you might want to use cashew butter).

This came out really good by itself but when I put it on bread it was spectacular! Next time I try this, I may try broiling the eggplants until the skin burns. That always adds a certain smoky taste that I love in eggplant salad.