It was hot enough all weekend that it felt unhealthy and hazardous to be outside when the sun was out. There was a breeze, which was also hot. An eggplant was ready in the garden and I knew that roasting it would not be an option, so I settled on a salad of fried eggplant on pita bread, from Ottolenghi and Tamimi. It is called Sbih, and the recipe comes from Iraqi Jews in Israel. Peel the eggplant in alternating strips (which is important, because I didn’t peel the skin at all and the texture was too distracting). To get rid of the eggplant’s watery taste, cut it into pieces and let it sit in salt. The eggplant is deep-fried in sunflower oil until golden, and placed on pita bread with spoonfuls of tahini dressing and slices of hard-boiled egg. Also added is zhoug, a sauce made from parsley, chiles, and cilantro; but the recipe I used had so much cumin and other middle eastern spices that it tasted like there was far too much salt. It’s best if you use the sauce sparingly and spoon over a chopped salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and parsley, seasoned with lemon juice.
(Photo: Summer lettuce, overgrown.)
365 Days of Food 