Moroccan Eggplant and Carrot Salads

When Nick left for Africa I asked (ok demanded) he bring me back a souvenir.  He got me a cookbook, "Moroccan Cooking" to be exact.

So I scoured the pages only to find Moroccans are not very vegetarian friendly, so most the recipes would have to be heavily adapted.  But there were a few promising veggie options.  So I made them for dinner.

Morrocan Eggplant Salad

Ingredients

• 2 eggplants
• 1/2 can of chopped tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Red pepper flakes
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 4 tablespoons olive oil

Put eggplant on a a baking sheet and place in a 150 C / 300 F oven for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Then peel the skins off.

Chop the eggplant into bite sized pieces.  Meanwhile, in a skillet, crush garlic and saute it in 4 tablespoons olive oil over low heat.  The add the eggplant, tomatoes, lemon juice, salt and pepper,1 teaspoon of paprika, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Cook covered for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and cook for 10 more minutes.

It's supposed to be served lukewarm or cold, but we were hungry and impatient so we ate it right away.

It was very good.  The eggplant had a nice tender texture, and I really liked the lemony flavor from the juice and the hint of spices.  Overall a tasty and healthy dish for dinner.

While the eggplant was in the oven I took the liberty to whip up a carrot salad as well.

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Ingredients  

• 5 medium sized carrots (this is what it called for but there was extra dressing so you could use more)
• 3 gloves garlic
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 pinch of cumin
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• orange flower water (new ingredient for me but we found easily in the baking aisle) 

Peel carrots and slice them at an angle to get pretty oval sized pieces.  Throw these into a pot of salted boiling water with 3 cloves of garlic for 10 minutes.  Drain, discard the garlic, and place carrots in a bowl.  To make dressing combine 4 tablespoons of olive oil with juice of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon orange flower water, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 pinch of cumin, and some pepper.  Pour this over your carrots and you're done.

I don't even like carrots to be honest, but this is incredibly simple and delicious.  I'd never had orange flower before but I really liked it in this dish, it added a bit of an orangey floral note.  The combination of sweet and tangy was delightful.