Do you drink watermelon juice, too?  I think sipping its wonderful juice it is a great way to consume watermelon, full of fibers, in this heat. Why don’t you just put some in your blender - sure enough after removing the peel, and join me?

I also added peach + grapes to the one on the right, not bad at all!

I love eggplant in every form, any way it is cooked. And I am not the only person from Turkey that loves eggplant. It is a cuisine that even includes eggplant jam, so go figure.

Charred (and peeled) eggplant is used in many recipes; salad or main dishes. Even though any size/shape eggplant can be used for this purpose, the globe type -obviously- yields more but the long variety takes less time to char. I use the globe variety usually and that’s what is growing in our backyard this year.

Usually accompanying a meat dish, this salad could be a meal on its own, too. We had it with fish (recipe to be shared next), let me know what you are pairing it with.

• 2 medium size globe eggplants (or 1 big one)
• 4 sweet green peppers
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 1 tsp each salt, sumac
• Extra virgin olive oil

1. Start by washing and drying the eggplant and peppers. For eggplant, either prick it from various places and stick under broiler/top of grill or use your gas range to start cooking/charring it. This process is rather easy, takes less time for the peppers which I suggest you use your gas range and keep turning to make sure not to burn it. Once every bit of outer skin is charred, put them in paper bag to help them “sweat” for about 10 mins or so.
2. While the eggplant and peppers are in a brown bag, cut the onion in small halt-circles, add sumac and salt and squeeze the onions until they release juice, put them in a medium size bowl
3. Peel the eggplant and peppers, wash them under running water and using your hands (or a knife), make small pieces of both, add to the onion
4. Cube the tomatoes , add to the mix
5. Chop parsley, add to the mix
6. Put about 3 - 4 Tbsp olive oil, mix well and serve