Skip to main content
Salad

Tunisian Eggplant Salad

A Tunisian salad of steamed eggplant, green pepper, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, salt, tuna, tomato, feta, and crisp greens.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Eggplant and oregano match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 157 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Tunisian Eggplant Salad

Time1 hour marinating

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eggplant

  1. Cut eggplant into 1‑inch cubes.

  2. Steam the cubes over ½ cup boiling water for 2 to 5 minutes until tender.

  3. Drain the eggplant.

  4. Arrange the eggplant with the chopped green pepper in a 2‑quart shallow casserole.

Marinate

  1. Combine the crushed garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, and salt in a covered jar. Shake the jar well.

  2. Pour the mixture over the eggplant and pepper.

  3. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

  4. Drain the vegetables from the jar. Reserve the drained liquid for other use.

Assemble and serve

  1. Toss the marinated vegetables with the drained tuna and chopped tomato.

  2. Spoon the mixture into a salad bowl lined with crisp salad greens.

  3. Top the salad with crumbled feta cheese.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

569Calories
30 gProtein
37 gFat
24 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Salmon100g cooked208
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Feta Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Eggplant1 cup cubed (82g)35
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Saladnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Eggplant + oreganotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together157 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  2. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Eggplant + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together801 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Oregano + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,767 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggplant
Forms the salad's main body, becoming tender when steamed and absorbing the marinade.
Olive oil
Adds fat and richness, carrying the oregano and garlic flavors through the marinade.
Red wine vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the vegetables and balances the oil.
Chunk-style tuna
Adds savory, meaty protein that gives the salad substance.
Feta cheese
Adds salty, tangy creaminess on top of the salad.
Tomato
Adds moisture and fresh acidity to the mixed salad.

The step that matters

Steaming the eggplant. Eggplant turns spongy or mushy if overcooked, and under-steamed cubes stay tough. Checking at two minutes and stopping once tender keeps the cubes intact so they hold their shape in the marinade.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (eggplant, pepper, garlic, olive, red wine, oregano, tomato):

  1. Basilfits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against eggplant, pepper, garlic, olive, red wine, oregano, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SaladTomato Salad179 recipesChicken SaladChicken Salad623 recipesSalad DressingSalad Dressing491 recipesCold SlawCold Slaw160 recipes