Eggplant tartare

I did this post for #hivetopchef with an eggplant theme but I was too late. I will share anyway.

Tartare is usually made of chopped up and marinated raw fish or meat. I have seen mostly tuna tartare and beef tartare.

These days many vegan restaurants serve vegan tartare made with a variety of things. I have had watermelon tartare, beet tartare, carrot tartare and mushroom with marinated vegetable tartare.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about eggplant, is Lebanese
Baba ghanoush. This is a dip made like hummus but with eggplant instead of chickpeas. It's minced into a dip and usually is eaten with pita.

I have decided to turn similar ingredients into tartare.

Eggplant tartare
1 chopped eggplant
4 to 5 cloves garlic
1 onion diced
1 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup parsley
A few mint leaves
1/2 cup diced sweet red pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil(optional)
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon toasted cumin
1/4 teaspoon toasted
Sprinkle of sumac
Sprinkle of crushed chili
1/2 teaspoon agave (optional)
Salt to taste

I don't always peel eggplant but for this I did. I chopped it quite small as tartare items usually are.

The eggplant was cooked in a pan only with a sprinkle of salt, cumin, coriander and a sprinkle of chili. I deglazed with a bit of lemon juice.

The dressing was a blend of the wet ingredients along with the herbs. The herbs could have been chopped and tossed into the eggplant but I decided to add it to the dressing instead.

I mixed in all of the dressing and tossed thoroughly.

This was put in the fridge to marinated and chill for a while.

I topped it with caramelized red onion and sprouts.

Tartare is usually eaten with crackers or something crunchy. sometimes with crostini or even chips.

I bought some seed rye crackers which was perfect. I didn't feel like bread today other wise some toasted pita bread would have been fitting as well.

A couple dabs of kalamata olive paste added a little extra something

Thanks for stopping by!

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