Mediterranean Salad

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1
  Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
• 2
  Place the bell peppers in the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes. Transfer the hot bell peppers to a bowl, cover with cling film, and let steam for 10 minutes. Then peel, wash, and dry them. Discard the skin. Cut the bell peppers lengthwise, remove the stem and seeds. Dice the flesh into 1 cm cubes and place them in a bowl.
• 3
  Cut off the stem from the eggplant and dice it into 2 cm cubes. Salt them and let rest for 15 minutes. Then carefully wipe off the exuded water with kitchen paper. In a saucepan over high heat, warm a generous layer of vegetable oil and gradually fry the eggplant until golden. Place it on a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb excess fat.
• 4
  Dice the tomatoes into 1 cm cubes and set aside. Finely chop the garlic and chili pepper.
• 5
  In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil, add garlic, chili pepper, and thyme, and sauté for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add tomato paste, sweet paprika, and ground cumin and stir for 20 seconds. Add the diced tomatoes and sauté for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour in 200 ml of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to one-third, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• 6
  Add the fried eggplant and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour into the bowl with the roasted bell peppers and mix. Once the salad cools, add the chopped mint leaves.