It is so cold and dark here, I have to keep my energy levels always up, if I don’t wanna sleep already in the afternoon. So I need big glasses of fresh smoothies and big bowls of energizing salads, just like this spinach salad with aubergines.
I often make these antipasti style roasted eggplants, they are so versatile. I love to add them to my salads, pastas, soups or risottos as a topping, they are great in sandwiches or just simply as a snack, filled with some ricotta or cashew cream.
Just layer the roasted eggplants in a jar filled with olive oil and if you want add spices, nuts, other roasted veggies too. It will be good for 1-2 weeks in your fridge. To be honest, it will be even better, if you are able to wait a few hours or days, and won’t eat it right after it’s ready.
Note: I actually don’t use just one clove of garlic, more like 2-3-4, but I didn’t want to scare you off…..I’m a crazy garlic-lady.
Spinach Salad with Aubergines and Cashew Dressing
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 3 1x
Ingredients
- 50 gr spinach
- 1 apple
- 10 radish
- a small handful of sprouts (I used mungo bean)
- 1 scallion
- 1 avocado
- 1 handful of pine nuts
- 1 aubergine
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 lemon
- olive oil
- salt, pepper
- for the dressing:
- 1/2 cup of cashews (preferably soaked)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lime
- salt, pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Cut the aubergines into thin slices and place them on a baking tray. Drizzle a little olive oil on them, season with salt and pepper and bake for about 20 minutes.
- Add the crushed garlic, the juice of a lime, some olive oil and the roasted aubergines to a small bowl, mix well together and let it set for a while in the fridge (the longer you can wait, the better it gets).
- For the dressing add everything to the food processor and blend until smooth. Add some extra water if the dressing would be to thick.
- For the salad mix together the spinach leaves, the thinly sliced apple, scallions and radish, the diced avocado, the pine nuts and the aubergines. Add the dressing and mix the salad. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Salad
Just discovered your blog and love it! This salad looks so delicious 🙂 I love grilling eggplant, it’s so much less oily and so crispy!
Hi Lilli!
I am so happy you like the blog and the recipe 🙂
This salad looks delicious Evi! I’d add 3 cloves of garlic too, I’m just as “crazy” as you are. 😉
So happy to hear that I’m not alone!
If I shouldn’t go out and meet people I would smell like a garlic field all the time 😀
LOL – crazy garlic lady! I’m one of those! I just finished roasting up a whole bulb for hummus!! More garlic please! lol! Hey, Evi, your redo looks really nice! Your logo is bold and I adore the shade of green you’ve chosen; right in line with your lifestyle!
Lovely salad too…Even though its soo cold outside, Salads are a staple year round. Thank you for your tip on storing eggplant in the fridge with olive oil. I can see how it would be so delicious on a salad or quickly whipped up in a dip. Your salad dressing sounds so rich and creamy… cashews are amazing! Thank you for sharing your recipe, Evi! Happy New Year!
Traci, it’s 10pm here, I didn’t wanna eat anymore, but I am dying to have some garlic hummus now 😀
And Happy New Year for you too 🙂
I am really glad you like the new design! I struggled for a long time with designs, servers, hosting, etc. I really needed some change….
Yumm yum! I love eggplant, but I don’t usually put it in salads. What a good idea!
Thank you, Raquel 🙂
What beautiful pictures for a delicious salad. Happy New Year!
Thanks a lot and Happy New Year, Emma! 🙂
It is so depressingly dark here yes. I make sure to eat a lot of energizing food as well – this salad looks perfect for it 🙂
I haven’t seen the sun for weeks…. 😀
Not just a beautiful salad, but a wonderful dressing! I always feel better after eating a salad in the winter!
Thank you, Nora 🙂