FOOD FOR A SUNNY DAY

I love eggplants- I love their taste, colour and how they always taste good whether you grill, steam, pan sear or fry them. Plus, they go well with chicken, fish, cheese…with almost everything! What more can you ask for? Here I am presenting a very colourful and healthy eggplant salad with meatballs and potato wedges. Sounds so basic eh? Well with the sunshine we’ve been lucky to have lately, I’ve been wanting to cook simple dishes that will make people want to get together around a table, share and really enjoy the food. Simple does not necessarily have to mean “boring”. The eggplant salad bursts with freshness and goes so well with the tender meatballs that are also delightful with a yoghurt sauce. I really enjoyed making this, and if you like cooking with a lot of herbs (and garlic) then you’ll probably enjoy cooking this too.

So with no further ado, here is what could turn out to be a great meal to enjoy outside under the sun…

• For the eggplant salad:
  Eggplants
  Yellow pepper
  Cherry tomatoes
  Garlic
  Mint
  Olive oil
  Lemon (juice)
  Salt & Pepper
  
  Preheat oven to 200C. Bake the eggplant in the oven for a good 30 minutes, remove peel and dice. Place in a bowl. Roast the yellow pepper, dice, and add to diced eggplant. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half, add to the bowl. Chop mint and crush garlic and throw that those in as well. Finish with freshly squeezed lemon, olive oil, salt & pepper.

• For the meatballs:
  Beef
  Onions (chopped)
  Coriander (chopped)
  Flour
  Salt & Pepper
  Olive oil
  
  In a bowl, mix the beef, chopped onions & coriander, and salt & pepper. Form meatballs which will then be lightly rolled in flour. When all the meatballs are ready, place in fridge for about 30 minutes (so you can do this at the very beginning before anything else). When you’re ready to cook, heat some olive oil in a large pan and cook the meatballs on high heat first then on lower heat.
  
  For the yoghurt sauce:
  Yoghurt (if you can use Greek-type yoghurt that would be better)
  Mint (fresh, chopped or dried)
  Garlic
  Salt & Pepper
  
  Just mix all the ingredients together and serve on the side or drizzled on top of the meatballs or even the potato wedges. Adjust the quantity of garlic according to personal taste.

• For the potato wedges:
  Potatoes
  Olive oil
  Paprika
  Salt & Pepper
  
  Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut washed potatoes into large wedges (keep the peel on the potatoes though) into a bowl. Add the olive oil, paprika and S&P and mix well. Transfer to a baking tray and bake until golden-brown (approx 30 mins). Serve hot!