Friday Dish: Aubergine Salad

I've been craving a lot of moutabal lately and have had it for lunch and dinners three days in a row.  We have a local supermarket, Choitrams located two blocks away preparing fresh moutabal salad that is very good.

Moutabal is an eggplant salad  or aubergine dip.  It is my favorite Middle Eastern dish. It is served cold usually with Arabic flat bread.  While some prefer Hommos, I'm biased with this mashed eggplant cold appetizer (cold mezze) usually made up of tahina, lemon juice and garlic. I usually eat it without bread.  Throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean, there are different variations in preparing moutabal and is often  called in different names. It is also commonly confused with Baba Ghanoush, which is also a salad but made of roasted aubergine with onions, garlic, tomato peppers and lemon juice. The texture of Baba Ghanoush is quite different.   I like both of them but Moutabal is simpler in taste.

I'm looking forward to tonight, relaxing outdoors in a tent along with a drink and a shisha (hookah pipe) while watching Euro 2012 game with the hubby at a nearby hotel at the golf country club.  I'm not much of a soccer follower but it's nice to be surrounded by avid football fans cheering for their teams from time to time.

What are your plans for the weekend?  

Have a wonderful Friday!

XOXO,

Arni

Image via Desert Candy