Grilled Eggplant, Goat Cheese, Salmon and Arugula Salad

The warm eggplant is hiding under everything else so you

can't see it in the picture. But it adds a wonderful depth of

flavor. And I love the taste of goat cheese and eggplant together.

The title of this recipe could easily be called "the salad of leftovers." I was busy cleaning and suddenly it was 12:00 and I needed to figure out something to throw together for lunch. Jason walked in and said it smelled so good and could I make him one too. So this accidental salad of leftovers is something that I think we'll definitely make again.

I love the combination of warm and cold in a salad. I often saute fruit for salads. I make a warm pear salad in the fall with blue cheese and pecans and in early summer I make a warm cherry and apricot salad with candied baby fennel.

In this salad the eggplant, salmon and cauliflower are all warm. You don't have to put cauliflower in if you don't want to. I had it leftover and it is one of my new favorite vegetables that I didn't realize I liked so much. I had only had cauliflower cold on vegetables platters with dips. All my friends kept swearing by how great it was cooked: Jill uses it for a version of mashed potatoes, Amy sautes it with olive oil and Kosher salt, someone else told me they make mac and cheese with cauliflower. I'm currently loving it.

I cooked the eggplant on the grill last night because I was going to make Baba Ghanoush (some call if eggplant hummous). But I was too tired last night after it was finished on the grill so just through it in a ziplock and figured I'd make it today. And then I thought it would be wonderful instead on the salad. So you can grill the eggplant for the salad or saute it. For Baba Ghanoush you grill the eggplant whole and it gets a nice smokey flavor) I took the already grilled eggplant discarded the skin and scraped out the insides and sauteed it with a little garlic, olive oil and salt.

The technique for the tomatoes is something I've been doing a lot on my diet. I slice tomatoes and put them in a bowl. Then I sprinkle them with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper and then pour a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar or reduced balsamic vinegar over them. Then I let them sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes but usually for an hour or two. The tomato water drips and combines with the balsamic and the whole combo makes a great salad dressing without adding olive oil. (Although I recommend adding olive oil when you're not cutting back.)

This salad was so filling I couldn't finish all of it. It is 6 points, but you could put less salmon and make it 5 points. I highly recommend using a scale because you get more goat cheese in an ounce then you may guess.

Warm Eggplant, Goat Cheese and Salmon Salad

Serves 2

4 cups baby arugula

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups grilled or cooked eggplant

1/2 teaspoon or more kosher salt

4 ounces cooked salmon

1 1/2 cups cooked cauliflower, optional

1 cup sliced tomatoes with liquid (tomatoes should be made in a bowl

with kosher salt, black pepper and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar)

2 ounces goat cheese

1. Divide arugula between two large dinner plates and set aside.

2. In a large saute pan, saute garlic clove in olive oil for 1 minute. Add eggplant and kosher salt and cook until eggplant is completely warm. (I used leftover cooked eggplant from the night before.)

3. Divide warm eggplant between the two plates, placing it in a mound in the middle of the arugula.

4. Saute salmon and cauliflower (optional) in the pan until it is warm. (If you don't have leftover salmon you could cook some just for this dish. But you'll want to cook it by itself if it is raw. If the salmon and cauliflower have already been cooked you can just warm them up together in the pan. (In my case both were leftovers. Salmon was grilled and cauliflower had been sauted the night before with a 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and kosher salt.)

5. Put warm salmon and cauliflower over salad. Crumble goat cheese all over salad (1 ounces for each person.) Pour chopped tomatoes with all their liquid over the salad. Add freshly ground pepper if you wish or more reduced balsamic to taste.

6 points*

*The Points® values for these products and/or recipes were calculated by Maili and are not an endorsement or approval of the product, recipe or its manufacturer or developer by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the Points® registered trademark.