Roasted Aubergine & Millet Salad with Hot Chickpeas and Feta – Green Kitchen Stories

Aubergine often gets a bad rep for its bitter taste and being tricky to cook with. It is true that when it is not cooked right it does taste pretty horrible. But when all stars align and you cook your aubergine perfectly, the buttery soft inside and slightly burnt tones are more pleasurable than all the vegetables at a L.A farmer\’s market combined. Cooking aubergine is actually not that tricky, approximately 97% of all bad tasting aubergines are simply undercooked. So when we roast aubergine we make sure to really crank up the heat and roast it until it looks black-ish on the outside and is super tender and buttery soft inside. We then toss it in a marinade or vinaigrette to let it soak up flavor. 

In this salad we have combined roasted aubergine with hot chickpeas and scorched feta cheese – all roasted on the same tray! We pair the warm ingredients with thinly sliced fennel, sweet grapes, colorful cherry tomatoes, leafy greens and a fluffy millet mix that we toss in pesto vinaigrette. It is truly delicious with a mix of warm and cold ingredients and a wide array of textures. 

We have been collaborating with Swedish/Italian company Zeta for the past few years and keep their range of beans, grains, olive oils and vinegars close at reach. When they release new products and inventions they often ask us to cook something fun with them. They just released a new organic millet mix with buckwheat, amaranth, green peas, black quinoa, durra and sesame seeds. It\’s a really good combo and cooks in just under 10 minutes. Quick, tasty and adds a feeling of sustenance to any salad or meal. 

If you have followed along here you know that millet is one of our favorite pseudo grains. It\’s gluten free and has been growing in Scandinavia for more than 3500 years (Nordic Bronze Age)! It\’s rich in minerals, cooks super fast and has a satisfying fluffy and soft texture when cooked.

Obviously, if you don\’t live in Sweden and can\’t find Zeta products you can use another grain mix in this recipe or simply use plain millet. Enjoy the recipe and check out the little recipe video below.