My Brother’s Salad

I realise now this was the last time my brother cooked in our parents house in Kakhovka, south of Ukraine. A lot has changed since then, the town and my parents house is now in occupation. It is a beautiful salad, just please make sure to make it when tomatoes and aubergines are in season, then it will really shine. You can use any soft herbs you love or have in your garden, dill, basil and coriander sing a special song together, one I go back to time and time again.

• 1⁄2 small red onion, finely sliced

• juice of 1 lemon

• 4 large, very ripe tomatoes (such as Bull’s Heart)

• 2 tbsp sesame oil

• soft herb leaves, such as coriander, dill, basil, or all of them

• 100g feta, crumbled

• sea salt

• 2 (or however many you like) medium garlic cloves

• 2 large aubergines

• 5 tbsp olive oil

Peel and squash the garlic and chop it roughly.

You can peel off strips of aubergine skin if you like, as Sasha does; it does help it cook quicker. Then chop the aubergines into 3–4cm cubes, quite roughly, there’s no need to be too precise here. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat without adding any oil. I don’t have non-stick at home, so I use a cast-iron pan, and that works too, but it’s a little trickier.

Now put the aubergines in and fry them dry, moving them around from time to time. You want them to cook through and soften, it will take about 5 minutes. At the very end, add 2 tbsp of the olive oil and the garlic, then stir often. The oil will moisten and colour the aubergines and the garlic will give its flavour; this will take 2 minutes. Switch off the heat.

Meanwhile, get the sliced onion, put it in a bowl and spritz over the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Let it sit while you finish the salad.

Cut the tomatoes into chunks, catching the juices in a bowl.

Add the aubergines to the tomatoes with the rest of the olive oil, the sesame oil, the onion and its juices, herbs and feta.

This recipe was taken from Home Food