Roasted eggplant salad with herbs, lentils and tomatoes and tangy miso dressing

For this salad I used a small brown lentil that is the size of a French lentil. If you can’t find small brown lentils, substitute French or Beluga lentils.

Serves 4 as a starter/2 as a main course

1 pound Asian eggplant, halved lengthways

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt

1 cup cooked lentils, see below

½ cup parsley leaves

¼ cup torn basil leaves

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 scallion, thinly sliced

Toasted black sesame seeds to garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut any long pieces of eggplant in half. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and add eggplant, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Toss to combine and arrange eggplant cut side down. Roast 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and soft inside. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Place lentils in a wide bowl or platter and add a pinch of salt, stir and spread out a little. Top with eggplant, herbs, tomatoes and scallions. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with extra dressing on the side.

Tangy miso dressing

If you’re making this dressing right before using it, it will be the perfect consistency for drizzling, if not add a little water to thin it out. I made this using a regular domestic blender, if you are using a vitamix you will need to double the recipe to get the blender to run. This recipe makes more than you will need for this salad but it keeps well for days.

Makes ¾ cup

2 tablespoons white miso

1 ½ tablespoons raw cashew butter

3 tablespoons filtered water, plus more to thin out

2 tablespoons naturally fermented brown rice vinegar

1 tablespoon naturally fermented mirin

½ clove garlic

1-inch piece scallion, roughly chopped

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients in an upright blender, except for oil, and blend until smooth. Add oil and blend again until thick and creamy. Use immediately or store in a jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To cook lentils

You will end up with more than you need to this salad. Store any left over lentils in the fridge for up to 4 days.

1 cup brown lentils, soaked overnight in 3 cups filtered water

Drain and rinse lentils. Place in a small to medium pot, cover with about an inch of filtered water and add kombu. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover pot, reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes or until lentils are soft inside but not falling apart. Remove from heat, drain well and set aside to cool.