I use to make only eggplant salad this way, in a jar, but now I added more vegetables to it; more flavor, color, texture. It's a salad in a jar that can be very well stored in the refrigerator for more than one week (I guess...in this house it's gone in 2 days...) but considering the fact that it's cooked in hot oil and the jars are very sterile, it can possibly last a long time. What's good about this salad , is that it's made with fresh vegetables, no preservatives, no additives, no artificial flavor. The best way to eat this appetizer salad is on garlic toast ...yumm, but hey, you can eat it on fresh bread as well, you can add some to your pasta dish, or even meat or fish...Here is the recipe and I hope that just by reading the ingredients you can have a "clear picture of the taste"INGREDIENTS:
2,3 small eggplant, thin sliced - (do not peel )
1 green bell pepper, seeded, thin sliced,
1 red bell pepper, seeded, thin sliced,
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded, thin sliced,
1 medium onion, thin sliced,
2 medium Roma tomatoes, medium sliced,
3 cloves of garlic, minced,
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill,
1/2 teaspoon dry Italian seasoning,
salt and pepper,
oil for deep frying (olive oil in this case!)
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare sterile jars and set aside. (2,3 jars)
Heat about 3 cups oil; begin to fry the eggplant before it starts to change color; when the eggplant turns golden brown, remove it into a large salad bowl; continue to deep fry the rest of the vegetables,
for 2,3 minutes, medium batches at a time, stirring once in a while. Remove fried peppers, onion and tomatoes in the same salad bowl with eggplant. When all are done, add all the seasonings (garlic, dill, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper). Gently toss them together until well coated. Spoon vegetable mixture into the jars and pour the hot oil (from frying) on top to cover completely. Place the lids immediately and turn the jars up side down until almost cool.
Refrigerate until serving. When you serve add a few drops of your favorite vinegar (Balsamic !!!) or lemon juice just to the serving size! Hope you like it! Enjoy!
