Southwest Eggplant Relish with Roasted Peppers and Ground Pepitas

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Southwest Eggplant Relish with Roasted Peppers and Ground Pepitas

 

Recipe By :Molly Katzen

Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:45

Categories : Appetizers Vegetables

 

 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

-------- ------------ --------------------------------

1 medium eggplant

2 medium Anaheim or poblano chiles

2 medium ripe tomatoes

1 cup shelled pepitas -- lightly toasted

2 medium garlic cloves -- minced

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

crushed red pepper -- to taste

a few sprigs of fresh cilantro for garnish -- optional

 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a baking tray.

 

Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise and place the halves open side down on the

baking tray. Place the whole pepper on the same tray.

 

Bake the eggplant and peppers together, turning the peppers every 5 to 8 minutes

to help them blister evenly. When the eggplant is tender (test it with a fork)

and the pepper skins are blistered all over, remove from the oven. This should

take about 30 minutes. If the peppers get done a little sooner, remove them

first.

 

As soon as the peppers come our of the oven, place them in a paper bag for about

3 minutes. This will assist them in sweating off their skins. Then take them

out, wait until they are cool enough to handle, and scrape off and discard their

skins. Remove the tops, seeds, and inner membranes and dice the peppers. Place

them in a medium-sized bowl.

 

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Core the tomatoes and plunge them

into the boiling water for a slow count of 10. Remove and peel the tomatoes

under cold running water. Cut them open and squeeze out and discard the seeds.

Dice the tomatoes, and add them to the pepper in the bowl.

 

Use a blender or food processor with the steel blade attachment to grind 1/2 cup

of the pepitas to a powder. Add this to the peppers and tomatoes.

 

Scoop out the eggplant pulp and add it to the food processor or blender (no need

to clean the machine first). Puree until quite smooth, then add it to the

pepita-vegetable mixture in the bowl.

 

Add garlic, lime juice, salt and the other 1/2 cup of whole pepitas, season to

taste with black and red peppers, and mix until well combined. Dust the top

lightly with crushed red peppers, if desired, and garnish with a few small

sprigs of fresh cilantro. Serve at room temperature or cold.

 

Description:

" It seems there is no limit to the number of cold eggplant variations

one can compose. This one celebrates the cooking of the Southwest

United States, a cuisine in which pumpkin seeds achieve new status as

pepitas and considered a real food. "

Cuisine:

" Southwestern "

Copyright:

" 1988 "

 

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 130 Calories; 4g Fat (22.5% calories from

fat); 5g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 281mg

Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 2 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit;

1/2 Fat.

 

Serving Ideas : Serve as an appetizer with chips or raw vegetables before Lentil

Chili.

 

As an alternative to serving this as an appetizer, try it for lunch, surrounded

by chips and assorted cut-up raw vegetables.

 

NOTES : You can streamline the preparation time by getting all the other

ingredients ready while the eggplant and peppers are in the oven. This relish

keeps well for several days and won't suffer at all from being made a few days

ahead.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 2049 0 1215 0 0 0 0 0 0