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This roasted eggplant black lentil salad is a great dish that takes full advantage of late summer produce. It’s a fun combo of roasted (and slightly charred) eggplant, sweet cherry tomatoes, mint, and black lentils, tossed in a spicy garlic oil.
It’s one of my new favorite dishes to use up a whole eggplant!
There are a few components to this dish, but they cook in parallel, so you can easily whip this up on a weeknight. Additionally, if you prep the lentils ahead of time or use canned black lentils, it’ll speed up the cooking process of this dish even more.
I love serving this on its own as a fun, spoonable salad situation, but it would taste great scooped up with naan or pita, or as a side to a Middle-Eastern chicken or lamb dish.
Ingredients for this Roasted Eggplant Black Lentil Salad
- Eggplant: I highly recommend using graffiti eggplant (which is the variety I used), fairy tale eggplant, or Japanese eggplant for this dish. All three of those varieties have a sweeter flavor profile and none of the bitterness that American/globe eggplant has.
- Black lentils, aka beluga lentils
- Cherry tomatoes: This dish relies on the tomatoes for both acidity and sweetness, so use the best tomatoes you can!!
- Fresh mint
- Garlic
- Extra virgin olive oil: California Olive Ranch, Brightland, and Terra Delyssa are my go-to brands for all things olive oil.
- Cumin seeds
- Coriander seeds
- Cayenne pepper
- Sliced toasted almonds: Don’t skip these – they add such a fun crunch to the salad! Loveee the toasted sliced almonds from Trader Joe’s; they’re perfect.
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt: The reason I specify brand is that not all kosher salt is created equal. If you’re using Morton kosher salt, use half the amount in the recipe.
Method Behind this Black Lentil Salad
Cook the lentils in salted boiling water until soft. Then drain and rinse thoroughly. I like to turn the lentils out onto a towel to really get all the water out (otherwise the salad will become watery).
In parallel with the lentils cooking, roast the eggplant. Slice the eggplant in half, and then slice each half lengthwise into strips, and cube those into small eggplant cubes. Dump the eggplant onto a sheet pan lined with parchment, generously drizzle with evoo and salt, and toss to coat. Roast the eggplant for about 20-25 minutes or until browned and slightly charred.
Prep the tomatoes and mint while the lentils and eggplant cook.
Dump the lentils, roasted eggplant, tomatoes, and mint into a large serving bowl and set aside.
Sauté the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until it just begins to brown, then throw in the cumin and coriander seeds and sauté an additional 30-ish seconds. Sprinkle in the cayenne pepper and saute for about 10 seconds, take off the heat immediately.
Pour the spiced oil over the lentil bowl, add in the sliced almonds and salt, and toss to combine. Adjust for salt and serve warm!
Notes & Meal-Prep Suggestions
- Season the lentils from within. Beyond seasoning the water for boiling the lentils with salt, feel free to throw in some aromatics like bay leaves, whole garlic, coriander seeds, etc. to really season the lentils from within.
- Drain the lentils on a towel. Water is the enemy here, and it’s super important to drain the lentils thoroughly. I like dumping the lentils out onto a towel to drain to ensure that zero water is getting into the final salad.
- Only meal-prep the lentils. Full transparency, this salad doesn’t save super well, so if you wanted to meal-prep it, the only component I’d make in advance is the lentils.
So excited for you to make this salad! Don’t forget to leave a starred review and rating below – love hearing from you!
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Roasted Eggplant Black Lentil Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner, Salads
- Cuisine: Indian
Description
This roasted eggplant black lentil salad is a great spoonable salad situation that takes full advantage of late summer produce like eggplant and sweet cherry tomatoes.
Ingredients
- 1 small graffiti eggplant, diced into cubes (about 2 cups chopped or 135g)
- 3/4 cup (142g) dry black lentilsÂ
- 1 cup (20 tomatoes or 140g) cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered (depending on size)
- 2 tbsp mint leaves, finely minced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly slicedÂ
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup (40g) sliced toasted almonds
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt (used total 1 tsp)
Instructions
- Cook the lentils. Dump the lentils into a pot of boiling water, season generously with kosher salt, and cook until soft. Then drain and rinse thoroughly. I like to dump the lentils out onto a towel to get all the water out (otherwise the salad will become watery).
- In parallel with the lentils cooking, roast the eggplant. Preheat your oven to 450°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Slice the eggplant in half, then slice each half lengthwise into strips, and cube into 1 cm eggplant cubes. Dump the eggplant onto the prepared pan, generously drizzle with evoo and salt, and toss to coat. Roast the eggplant for about 20-25 minutes or until browned and slightly charred.
- Prep the remaining veggies. Prep the tomatoes and mint while the lentils and eggplant cook. Once the lentils are done, dump them into a large serving bowl, along with the roasted eggplant, tomatoes, and mint.
- Make the spiced oil, aka tadka. Sauté the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until it just begins to brown, then throw in the cumin and coriander seeds and sauté an additional 30-ish seconds. Sprinkle in the cayenne pepper and saute for about 10 seconds, take off the heat immediately. NOTE: Powdered spices like cayenne burn very quickly, which is why I like adding the cayenne pepper last.
- Toss and serve. Pour the spiced oil over the lentil bowl, add in the sliced almonds and salt, and toss to combine. Adjust for salt and serve warm! NOTE: Feel free to add a squeeze of lemon if your tomatoes aren’t that acidic.