Grilled Vegetable “Caviar”

This delicious and healthy recipe consists of some grilled vegetables, red onion, herbs, and unprocessed sunflower oil. It makes an excellent topping for crackers or crostini, and I have also used it as a topping for grilled salmon and chicken.

The recipe comes from the cookbook Mamushka by Olia Hercules. I have made a few other recipes from this book, and really loved the coleslaw (recipe to come one day), Armenian Roasted Vegetables, and the amazing Beet and Gherkin Salad.

In the photo below I had forgotten to grill and add the tomatoes, so it looks a little different than it should; it was still delicious. You can see the real deal in the salmon-topped photo below.

What you need:

• 2 beefsteak tomatoes
• 2 long green peppers (I used 1 green, 1 red)
• 1 eggplant
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
• 1/2 tablespoon unrefined sunflower oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped dill
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon chopped basil

What you do:

1. Place the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant on a hot barbecue, over the flame on a gas stove, or oil them lightly and broil them in the oven. Roast, turning occasionally, until the vegetables are charred all over and have collapsed. Put the the roasted vegetables in a container with a lid and let them sweat for about 10 minutes.
2. Remove most of the skins from the vegetables. It is fine to leave a little bit of the blackened skin. Remove the seeds and stem from the peppers. Roughly chop the grilled vegetables.
3. Mix the grilled vegetables with the garlic and red onion, then dress with the sunflower oil. Season well with salt and pepper and stir in the herbs.