Marinated Eggplant Salad Recipe- Paleo, Vegan, Easy

Eggplants are in season round these parts, making them one of the more frugal vegetables I can currently buy. This salad is one of my favorite ways to eat eggplant. Unlike the locals who make this recipe by first deep frying the eggplant, I bake them in the oven and then marinate them until absolute deliciousness. This recipe is great for a variety of different diets, from paleo to vegan, gluten free, allergy friendly, etc...

Marinated Eggplant Salad Recipe- Paleo, Vegan, Easy

Ingredients:
2 large eggplants, sliced thinly,
1-2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1-3 tablespoons date syrup, jaggery syrup, or sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup fresh parsley (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika, sweet or hot (optional)

Instructions:
1. Slice the eggplants thinly and uniformly. A mandolin helps with this but isn't needed.

2. Lay the eggplant slices flat on a few oven trays, so they're mostly not overlapping. You'll need at least 2-3 trays to do this.

3. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil.

4. Bake at 350 or 375 until thoroughly cooked and starting to brown. Even if some of the pieces get burnt that is totally fine- still use the burnt looking pieces.

5. Mix the olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, and sweetener.

6. Mix the vinegar mixture with the eggplant and let marinate for a few hours, turning over in the middle so that all the eggplants get covered with the marinade.

7. Add fresh parsley and paprika if desired.

8. Serve cold.

Enjoy!

Have you ever have or made marinaded eggplant salad? What do you put in it? Does this look like something you'd try?