Italian Style Eggplant And Pepper Salad

Servings: 6
Ingredients:

1 lg Eggplant
2 lg Bell peppers, red or green
2 lg Celery stalks
Olive oil for sauteeing
2 ea Garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c  Olive oil
1/4 c  Red wine vinegar
1 ts Oregano
Salt and pepper
1/4 c  Black olives, chopped

Preheat oven to 400F. Place whole eggplant, unpeeled, on a rack in oven.
Wrap the two peppers and celery stalks individually in aluminum foil and place
them on rack as well. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove peppers and celery and let
cool. Bake eggplant for another 15 minutes. It should be very tender and
have collapsed.

When vegetables are cool enough to handle, peel eggplant, cut into several
pieces and drain in a colnder for 20 minutes. Squeeze out some of the
excess moisture. Chop peppers, removing stems and seeds. Leave in large
pieces. Chop celery into 1/2′ pieces. Dice eggplant and combnie with
peppers and celery in a large bowl.

Heat a few drops of olive oil in a skillet and saute the garlic till golden.
Add to hte bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Cover and let
stand for 1 hour at room temperature before serving.

Nava Atlas, ‘Vegetariana’

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