Looking for a good way to use the marinated eggplants from my last post? This salad is one of my favourite ways to use them. It’s a very hearty grain salad, loaded with tasty things. I used kamut as the base, which is a type of quite large wheat berry. It’s slightly nutty, and chewy and I like it a lot. You can pick another grain if you prefer, or if you want to avoid gluten. Barley, quinoa, or farro would be great. I find this salad is substantial enough, with rich cheese and pecans, and filling whole grains, to be a main meal. You could always add some grilled salmon or whatever protein you like to make it even more robust.

As with all salads, these amounts are rough, just add the quantities that look good to you. Kamut can be hard to find at the supermarket, I can usually find it at health food stores and bulk markets.

carrot, eggplant & kamut salad

½ cup pickled eggplant, cut into thin strips

3-4 carrots, peeled
1 cup kamut (or barley, wheat berries, quinoa, farro…)
4-5 cups arugula
⅓ cup dried figs
3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
¼ cup toasted pecans

dressing

¼ olive oil
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Cook the grain in a large quantity of boiling, salted water until it’s tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

Using a vegetable peeler, shave the carrots into long, flat strips. Alternatively, you can grate the carrots, but I like these carrot ribbons better.

Combine cooled grains with the carrots and arugula, top with figs, goat cheese and pecans.

Combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously until emulsified. Drizzle over salad and toss to combine. Serve immediately.