dinner date - buckwheat, eggplant and tomato salad

A few weeks ago I went to a cooking demonstration by Julie Le Clerc, promoting her new book Made By Hand. Unfortunately two of the three dishes she made contained ingredients that weren't to my liking (a salmon terrine and berry & coconut cakes). I was feeling a little anti her book after this, but now that I've had a chance to look through it, there are many other recipies that are to my liking! The other recipe she demonstrated was buckwheat, eggplant and tomato salad. There is nothing technically complicated about this salad that required a demonstration, but the fact that I'd seen it made before did prompt me to make it one night when I was just cooking dinner for myself.

I've never used buckwheat before, but I will be using it again. It has a lovely slightly nutty flavour and a great texture. I think it will become a bit of a staple for my summer salads - this would be a great salad to take to work for lunch.

I modified the recipe slightly, leaving out the garlic as I always find raw garlic a bit overpowering. I also omitted the feta as I didn't have any, but I would certainly put this in the salad if you can. I added some grilled asparagus also, which went nicely with all the flavours.

Buckwheat, eggplant and tomato salad
1 large eggplant, cut into large cubes
olive oil
salt and pepper
8 small vine-ripened tomatoes
1 cup wholegrain buckwheat
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
juice of 2 lemons
100g feta or goat's cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 200C. Roast eggplant tossed with olive oil and salt & pepper in oven until golden brown. Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil, season with salt & pepper and roast for around 10-15mins until the look good. Remove eggplant and tomatoes from oven and cool.

At the same time, cook the buckwheat in boiling water for 6 minutes or until tender to bite. Drain well and set aside.

Place eggplant, buckwheat, garlic, basil and parsley in a bowl. Add lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and toss well. Serve topped with baked tomatoes and crumbled feta or goat's cheese.