Harvest season is in full swing and food blogs are full of stories and recipes about fall food. Two of my favorite blogging friends have recently returned from harvest tours and I’ve been enjoying “tour tweets” and am looking forward to hearing all about their tours!! Rachael, of La Fuji Mama, just returned from a pomegranate harvest tour, hosted by POM Wonderful. Robyn, from the Earthbound Chronicles, just returned from a a Walnut Harvest Tour hosted by California Walnuts. Well, all this talk of pomegranates and walnuts made me even more impatient to try a recipe I recently found in the Wall Street Journal by Daniel Rose – chef and owner of Spring restaurant in Paris, France. This young chef has taken Paris by storm and his restaurant is extremely popular – so popular that when I visited a couple of years ago, I was unable to get a reservation – which was ok, since it gives me a legitimate reason to return (like I need a reason – ha!!) However, since I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon, I was very excited to come across a few of his recipes that were published in the Wall Street Journal. I couldn’t wait to try them – and they didn’t disappoint!
Walnuts and pomegranates are a natural pairing and are common ingredients in Middle Eastern cooking and are two of my favorite ingredients. They are paired here with smoky eggplant and result in a dish that is earthy and yet light… and truly delicious. This dish would be wonderful paired with a roasted red pepper soup, or served alongside roasted meat or chicken- or as Rose recommends, serve over roasted mushrooms instead of eggplant.
[print_this]
Roasted Eggplant with Walnuts, Pomegranate and Mint
(Adapted from Daniel Rose’s “Roasted Eggplant with Pomegranate Vinaigrette”)
- 1 eggplant (1 – 1/2 lbs) – I used about 8 baby eggplant
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large pomegranate, seeded
- 1 small green apple, peeled and diced
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/2 cup California walnuts, toasted and chopped
- 1 Tbsp. Walnut oil
- 1/4 cup mint, sliced (you could use cilantro and/or parsley)
- salt and white pepper
Directions:
1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil. Place eggplants on sheet pan, skin side down.
2. Brush sliced eggplant with 1 Tbsp. olive oil and sprinkle with salt and white pepper. Roast eggplant in oven until tender – about 45 minutes for large eggplant and about 20 -25 minutes for small eggplants.
3. Remove eggplants from oven. While eggplants are roasting, combine the pomegranate seeds, apples, shallots, 1 Tbsp. lime juice, remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil and walnut oil. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings.
4. Just before serving, add the walnuts. Spoon pomegranate and walnut mixture over the eggplants and serve.
Note: Rose’s recipe calls for the addition of 1 oz. of cured chorizo which I omitted.
[/print_this]
Ooooh, this looks FABULOUS! What an awesome combination of ingredients!! XOXO
See what trouble you get me into??? All this talk about pomegranates…. heaven only knows what will happen with mushrooms!!!!
Oh wow Nancy! That’s the best kind of inspiration! It looks delicious. My husband finds eggplant irresistible so I am going to have to make this wonderful dish soon! We are trying to go completely unprocessed and this will help me add another great meal to the list.
Wow, you are ambitious!! We don’t eat a lot of pre packaged food in our house – I like to cook too much for that!!!
Oh so delicious!!!!! Love the colors, you photo is making my mouth water 🙂 wish I could reach right out and take a bite 😉
Hi Diane,
I know how you feel … that’s what happens every time I read your blog!!!
This looks incredible. So light, pretty and flavorful!
Hi Alison,
It definitely has the looks and the flavor.. Daniel Rose is truly a genius!!!
Absolutely stunning pic and sounds really packed with flavor. The presentation is so striking, too! Fantastic post, Nancy. Best combo; food that looks gorgeous AND you want to eat it. 😀
Glad you like the photo – struggled with it a bit (darned cloudy weather!!) – glad that it all came together!!! It was too funny – I’d found this recipe and had been wanting to try it and then Robyn and Rachael were talking about two of the main ingredients… ah fate!!!
I’ve been reading of Rachael and Robyn’s adventures; love how you brought both together in this one dish. It’s so pretty too…would be a perfect holiday dish for my table. Which I think is communal.
LOL!! Barb, you are too clever!! Yes, this would be a great dish for the holiday table!!
Nancy, this eggplant looks so tasty. I too was enjoying the tweets from the gals on the POM harvest trip. I had gotten that invite, but sadly could not make it. Thanks for this great recipe!
Hope you enjoy the eggplant and what a bummer not to be able to go on the POM harvest trip!
Wow, these look so fancy and impressive.
What a beautiful colorful dish.
I’d love for you to submit one of your beautiful photos, and a link to your post, to my new vegetarian food photo gallery showcasing beautiful vegetarian food. Feel free to submit photos of any other vegetarian dishes as well 🙂
Thanks for stopping by the Table. I checked out Vegolicious and would be happy to submit photos!!!
Hi there! This recipe sounds delish and I was hoping that you might add it to my Easter and Spring Linking Party to share with my readers. If you are interested, you can go here http://bakedbyjoanna.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-linking-party.html to enter. Thanks!