Roasted cauliflower & eggplant salad with cilantro-yogurt sauce

🌿 Roasted Veggie Goodness 🌿 Roasted cauliflower and eggplant salad. The secret cilantro yogurt sauce takes the veggies to another level.

Optional additions: zucchini, broccoli, sweet potato, shrimp, carrots, or any other vegetable you prefer for antipasti.
Roasted vegetables of all kinds is a light addition that always adds color to the table, no matter if they are roasted peppers, zucchini, cauliflower or eggplant. The lightness is that you can arrange it on a tray with a drop of oil and send it to the oven. Even without any sauce it would be great, but this time the secret is in the sauce. Coriander sauce is sour and thick thanks to the yogurt that is added to it. I recommend trying both, with all kinds of roasted vegetables with or without the salad.

Ingredients for the sauce:

• A medium bunch of cilantro (20-30 stalks), including the stalk

• 3 tablespoons of whole yogurt

• 1/4 cup of olive oil

• 1/4 cup of squeezed lemon

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1/2 a teaspoon of salt

• 1/4 a teaspoon of black pepper

For the roasted vegetables:

• 1 eggplants 

• 1 cauliflower 

• Optional additions: zucchini, broccoli, sweet potato, carrots, or any other vegetable you prefer for antipasti.

For the salad:

• 1/4 head of round lettuce, thinly sliced

• 1/4 white or purple cabbage, thinly sliced

• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved

• Optional: 1/4 purple onion, quartered and thinly sliced

• 1/2 cup roasted cauliflower

• 1/2 cup roasted eggplant

• 4 tablespoons of sauce (adjust to taste)

How to make it:

• Cut the eggplants into cubes and place them on absorbent paper. Lightly salt them and let them sit for five minutes. The eggplants will release liquid, which you should absorb using the paper. This step helps remove their bitterness

• Cut the cauliflower into slices or break it into florets. Arrange them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and drizzle with a little olive oil. 

• Place the eggplant cubes in a baking tray, drizzle with a bit of oil, and toss to ensure each piece is lightly coated.

• Bake both the eggplants and cauliflower for about 40 minutes at 180°C.

• To make the sauce, place all ingredients in a 1-liter jar, leaving room to mix. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

• In a bowl, layer the lettuce, cabbage, and tomatoes. Sprinkle with roasted cauliflower and eggplant, then generously drizzle the sauce on top.

• For an alternate presentation, arrange the roasted eggplant and cauliflower in a shallow serving dish and drizzle the sauce over them.

• The sauce can be stored in the fridge for two to three weeks.