Easy. Versatile. Tangy. Moreish.

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Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on canvas. Here we have a pickled eggplant. Figuratively. Thanks to Joe Sorren for his wonderfully quirky, gentle characters in somewhat surreal and intimate moments. And his lush colours and brushwork. I'm quite a fan.

By the way, all the food painting artwork is available to own in the Official Art Store.

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The meatless meals recipe

This recipe originated with some family friends of my husband. He insisted on making it for me to show me how good it was and that it should go in the recipe book. I was skeptical. Pickled eggplant did not sound like something I wanted to try, let alone let into my collection of kick arse recipes. Well I was wrong. So wrong, in fact, that friends who came to stay ate an entire half a jar in one sitting. And that was before we'd tweaked it into shape!

1 large eggplant

2 tablespoons salt

3/4 cup white wine vinegar (quite tart) or apple cider vinegar (quite mild) according to your taste preferences.

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

up to 500ml olive oil

3-6 garlic cloves (optional)

1 cup fresh basil leaves (optional)

a couple of dried chillies (optional)

Cut the eggplant into pencil sized strips and put into a bowl with 2 tablespoons of salt. Place a small plate on top with a weight.

Leave for 12 hours or overnight.

Tip off the juice and then rinse off the eggplant, otherwise it ends up extremely salty.

Cover with vinegar and water. Weight the eggplant down again and leave for another 12 hours.

Drain and pat the eggplant dry.

Sprinkle with just one teaspoon of salt.

Put in a sterilized jar and layer with your chosen flavourings such as garlic, basil and chilli. Fill the jar with the olive oil and squeeze on the lid.

Keep in the fridge and try not to nibble at it for at least several weeks. The flavours really develop over time. It's super good after 3 months.

Makes one 500ml jar of pickled deliciousness.
Goes well on sandwiches or in salads.