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- Makes 8 steaks + 1¼ cups hummus + 2 cups couscous
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This Mediterranean knife-and-fork dinner makes an impressive presentation for company, or dish it up individually for a mouthwatering weeknight meal. Tender eggplant is infused with smoky flavor on the grill then marinated in a mustard-herb vinaigrette for maximum flavor. As the veggies soak, the homemade white bean hummus comes together in a flash and is delicious to dollop on top of each filet when you’re ready to eat. Serve over a bed of whole wheat couscous or quinoa, top with toasted pine nuts, and you’ll feel like you’re dining on a Greek island.
By Shelli McConnell,
Ingredients
- 1 1¼- to 1½-lb. eggplant
- 5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, thyme, and/or basil
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups cooked whole wheat Israeli couscous or quinoa
- 2 medium tomatoes, sliced
- 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
- 1 15-oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- Sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Trim ends of eggplant. Cut eggplant crosswise into eight “filets.” Brush both sides of filets with 2 tablespoons of the vinegar. Grill, covered, over medium-high 6 to 8 minutes or just until tender, turning once. Meanwhile, for dressing, in a bowl whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons vinegar, fresh herbs, shallot, Dijon mustard, and 2 of the garlic cloves.
- Transfer eggplant to a 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Pour dressing over eggplant; turn to coat. Cover and let stand 30 minutes, turning filets once.
- For White Bean Hummus, in a blender or food processor combine cannellini beans, lemon juice, tahini, the remaining garlic clove, sea salt, and black pepper. Cover and pulse until nearly smooth, adding 1 tablespoon water, if necessary, and scraping down sides as needed. Cover and chill until ready to serve or up to three days.
- Arrange couscous, eggplant filets, and tomatoes on a platter. Drizzle vinegar mixture from dish over top; sprinkle with pine nuts and pepper. Serve with White Bean Hummus.
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Comments (5)
(5 from 5 votes)Love this recipe! Will make double of the vinaigrette next time. Cut the eggplant a little thicker…not crazy thick but not thin sliced. I didn’t let it cool…I like warm eggplant so took the eggplant off the grill then kept it warm…then added vinaigrette to the warm eggplant then a dollop of white bean hummus.
This was easy to make but the garlic was very strong and the dressing in general was very acidic…maybe grilling after marinating would have helped. White bean hummus was very good.
So this is served cold? Cooked, marinated 30 minutes then served? Or is this another "left something out of the recipe"?
Ken, it looks like it is served cold, since the other platter ingredients are cold. That said, they are quite tasty warm as well! I just made the steaks, and of course had to do a taste test as soon as they had marinated a bit. It reminds me so much of eating steamed artichoke hearts with a good Dijon vinaigrette, a childhood favorite! The texture is very soft, so while it looks like a steak, you really just want to pick it up and take a bite out of it. I'm giving this four stars because it's not very steak-like, but it is good. We'll see tomorrow what the omnivores think of it. I should note that I left out the fresh herbs, because I didn't want that flavor today, and I don't think that it really impacted the recipe at all. I like that the recipe makes just enough marinade for your eggplants, and there's not a bunch left over.
I only made the eggplant steaks. They came out decent. My omnivores liked them. I really like the idea of the platter. I'm looking forward to putting it all together for the a backyard BBQ.