#RecipeShed Roast Aubergine with Falafel, and Tehina Sauce

Recipe Shed was a challenge this week as the theme was roasts and I don't cook meat. Then I remembered this dish that I had in a restautrant about two years ago and loved. Obviously others also raved about it as it has become somewhat of an Israeli favourite, appearing all over the place with variations in presentation and extras. It has all the ingredients of a national dish: roast aubergine, falafel, and chopped salad in lemon/olive oil dressing. So without further ado...


Roast Aubergine on a bed of Israeli Salad, served with Falafel and Garlic, with Yogurt Tehina Sauce.

1. Roast your aubergine, a whole garlic, and some cherry tomatoes (oil and salt)
in a very hot oven for an hour until the aubergine is collapsed to a creamy texture inside. From this -

To this (after half an hour I turned the aubergine over and added some fresh coriander) -

2. Meanwhile make your salad - chop 1 tomato and 1/3 cucumber (UK cucs) with some onion. Dress with olive oil, lemon juice and salt/pepper.

3. Also prepare your sauce. Mix tehina paste with natural yogurt, chopped coriander, salt/pepper, lemon juice and ground cumin. To taste is the best guideline I can give you for amounts.

4. Put the salad on a flat dish. Slice the aubergine lengthways and lay it on to of the salad. Mash the flesh a bit with a fork to break it up. Arrange your falafel, the garlic and cherry tomatoes on top. Drizzle with the tehina sauce.

NB1 - This time I bought the falafel balls but you can make your own from scratch or buy a packet of falafel mix.

NB2 - I am no food photographer and next time I'd probably try a neater presentation but it really did taste delicious. You can squeeze the garlic over the top and discard the peel.