Simple Seasonal

Healthy Seasonal Recipes Inspired by Your Local Farm and CSA

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Recipes
  • How-To
  • Farm to Table
  • Playing With Food
  • Contact

Fairytale Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces

September 19, 2017 By Rachel 4 Comments

Share
Pin110
Tweet
Yum10
Share
Flip
120 Shares

Fairytale Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces – Get to know this cute little eggplant variety with a zesty and savory recipe that can serve as an appetizer or side dish with some Middle Eastern flair!

Fairy Tail Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces

Two years ago my husband, son, and I decided to go for a late summer wander around our local farmer’s market on a sunny and cool Saturday morning. We splurged on some freshly roasted coffee for the parents and freshly baked pastry for the kid (okay, and the parents too). In addition to my normal farmer’s market picks, I just had to impulsively buy some pretty little fairytale eggplants that a local farmer was featuring.

Fairy Tail Eggplant

At the time, my teeny-tiny eggplants were new to me, so I honestly couldn’t think of what to do with them. They sat in my kitchen looking pretty for days until they turned to stinky eggplant mush. It was so sad and I had total wasted-food shame.

The Size of Fairy Tail Eggplant

Then this summer I got my second chance with pixie eggplant! Much to my delight, my local CSA crop share had them available. This was it! This was my chance at eggplant redemption! I carefully brought my little treasures home, saving them at least once from accidental squashing by 6-year-old.  I then immediately got to recipe development and cooking!

Fairy Tail Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces

What I came up with was this recipe for flavorful Fairytale Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces. To start, the eggplant is grilled, which brings out it’s sweetness and savoriness. I love the combination of eggplant with Middle Eastern flavors, so I paired it with my recipe for Lebanese Garlic Sauce (one of my favorite sauces of all time). To add a little zing I dressed it with some roasted red pepper sauce. This recipe is delicious served as an appetizer, or consider serving it as a side with lamb, chicken, or even white fish for a complete meal. My little eggplants are so tasty that I finally feel like I redeemed myself from the fairytale eggplant debacle of 2015!

Fairy Tail Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces

Fairytale Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces
 
Print
Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
30 mins
 
Get to know this cute little eggplant variety with a zesty and savory recipe that can serve as an appetizer or side dish with some Middle Eastern flair!
Author: Rachel Hanawalt
Recipe type: Sides
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
Lebanese Garlic Sauce
  • ⅔ C sour cream
  • 1½ Tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1½ tsp sugar
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp chives, finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
Eggplant
  • 1 lb Fairytale Eggplant
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • fresh parsley for garnish
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
  • 1 C jarred roasted red peppers that has been drained
  • ⅛ C olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. To make the Lebanese Garlic Sauce combine all of the ingredients in a bowl until smooth and set the sauce aside until you are ready to serve it with the eggplant. For more detailed directions, check out the link at the bottom of my blog post to find an entire post dedicated to this sauce.
  2. To make the eggplant, wash the eggplant and slice in half. Lightly coat the eggplant in olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook on a griddle, lightly covered with foil over medium heat for about 8 minutes, turning midway. Note that the cook time may vary depending on the size of your eggplant.
  3. While the eggplant is cooking, you can make the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. Using a blender or a food processor, puree the roasted red peppers, olive oil, and salt and pepper until smooth. Set the pepper sauce aside until you are ready to assemble your dish.
  4. To serve spread a layer of garlic sauce on a plate, stack the eggplant in a pretty pattern and then drizzle with the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. Serve immediately.
3.5.3228

 

Fairy Tail Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces

You may also enjoy…

Lebanese Garlic SauceAsian Eggplant Stir FryHomemade Roasted Garlic Baba Ganoush

Get Your Next Meal In Your Inbox!

Enter your email address to get the latest recipes and relevant seasonal content on the blog!

I agree to have my personal information transfered to AWeber ( more information )

I will never give away, trade, or sell your email address. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Share
Pin110
Tweet
Yum10
Share
Flip
120 Shares

Filed Under: Appetizers, Aubergine (Eggplant), Dietary Needs, Fall, Garlic, Gluten-Free, Healthy, Meal Types, Middle Eastern, Peppers, Recipes, Seasons, Sides, Summer, Vegetarian Tagged With: CSA vegetables, Eggplant, fairy tail eggplant, Fall, Grilled, Lebanese garlic sauce, Roasted Red Pepper, Summer

« No Cook Cilantro Lime Crab Tacos
Banana Split Breakfast Sundae Bowl »

Comments

  1. Lucy says

    September 21, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    This looks so delicious! I absolutely love eggplant, especially grilled, and anything with red pepper sauce… yum! I will be making this ASAP for sure. Pinning!

    Reply
    • Rachel says

      October 20, 2017 at 11:06 am

      Thanks for pinning!

      Reply
  2. Adina says

    October 2, 2017 at 8:54 am

    I am so making this the first chance I get to buy the mini-eggplants, I see them from time to time in the Syrian shop, but not regularly. And the Lebanese sauce, it all looks delicious!

    Reply
    • Rachel says

      October 20, 2017 at 11:24 am

      Thanks Adina! Mini-eggplants are a specialty near me too. It’s one of those things that you just have to buy when you see it!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi, I'm Rachel! Welcome to Simple Seasonal, a resource for simple, healthful, and delicious recipes that help you make the most of seasonal produce from your local farmer's market, CSA, or home garden. Simple Seasonal is committed to a whole foods diet. With an occasional cookie... ;)


Recipes in Your Inbox!

Sign up to get free updates!

Search

Connect With Us

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Connect With Us!

If you're active on social media, you'll find Simple Seasonal there as well. Feel free to connect, share, and say hello!

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Discover Winter Recipes

Lobster Linguine in Blushing Saffron Sauce
One-Pot Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice
Honey Walnut Red Beet Hummus
Homemade Duck Sauce
Gummy Bear Mocktails
Banana Split Breakfast Sundae Bowl

Discover Winter Recipes

Creamy Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup
Baked Falafel Balls with Flax and Tahini Sauce
Cherry Almond Jam
English Muffin Pizzas
Slow Cooker Honey Balsamic Lamb Shanks

Copyright © 2023 · Simple Seasonal · Privacy Policy · ↑ Back to top

Privacy Policy