Griddled aubergine and 'feta' salad

Due to the warm weather we've been thoroughly enjoying making salads, especially vegetarian ones and tonight was another fantastic triumph. We have seen multiple recipes for aubergine and feta cheese salads and we have just chucked a mixture of these and our own ideas together to create the following. 

We say 'feta' because the cheese we actually used wasn't strictly feta, as it was made from cow's milk as opposed to sheep or goat's. We chose to use this as Sasha was unfamiliar with the cheese and we wanted something similar in texture and taste but without the acidity of true feta. This cheese had a less acrid flavour, blending nicely with the aubergine and pine nuts. 

Griddled aubergine and 'feta' salad

Serves 2-3 

Ingredients

100 g mixed salad leaves

75 g ‘feta’ cheese

15 g pine nuts

2 small aubergines

1 tbsp garlic/olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 ½ tbsp salt

pinch pepper

Notes - Don't freak out about the amount of salt! It's used to extract the excess water from the aubergines and is mainly lost in the water when you dry the aubergine slices with a piece of kitchen paper. The 'feta' cheese we used was called 'Patros Natur' but you can use any alternative or indeed feta itself. Again the use of a griddle pan is kind of essential although you can make it work without if needs be, or just chuck the aubergine on a barbecue or under a salamander flame grill.

Method

1. Firstly trim the tops off your aubergines and slice them length ways (see picture) so you have a full length cross-section, slice them about a 1/4 inch thick (or as close to as possible, it'll just take longer to cook them if they are thicker). If you are worried about knives slipping then just cut them into rings of the same thickness.

2. Lay your aubergine slices on a tray in a single layer (no overlapping) and sprinkle them with all of the salt, rubbing it in gently, put aside for 20-30 minutes or until a decent amount of water has been extracted. 

3. Meanwhile, prepare your salad leaves and then the dressing - by mixing the oil, oregano and pepper together. Crumble your cheese into small pieces and toast your pine nuts in a hot frying pan until lightly brown. Set all these aside until you are ready to assemble your salad.

4. Heat a griddle pan on a medium-hot heat. Dry your aubergine slices with kitchen paper, (you'll be amazed how much water will come out - most of the salt will be removed but some will remain to season the dish) place them on a chopping board and brush them with the dressing on one side. Griddle them oiled side down, then oil the other side, turn once when griddle lines appear, finish cooking them through on the other side and repeat with the rest of the slices.

5. To plate, place a base of salad leaves tossed with a little of the cheese and a few pine nuts. Then arrange the aubergine slices as you see fit and sprinkle with the last of the cheese and pine nuts. Drizzle with a little garlic oil and enjoy immediately.