These warm dog days of summer, forget the oven, even forget your stovetop. Turn on the grill. Whip up a casual summer dinner–grill roasted eggplant and tomato pitas with lemon tahini sauce.
With lemony tahini sauce, this recipe riffs on the classic Mid-Eastern dip, baba ganoush. If you’ve ever had creamy garlicky baba ganoush, you’ll love the flavor combo going on in these pita pockets.
You’ll also like the ease of making this vegan meal. I used a grill basket to “stir-fry” the garlic and cumin seasoned eggplant and tossed in bright cherry tomatoes when the eggplant grilled into soft and lightly charred.
Add chopped parsley and green onion, then stuff the tender eggplant mix into pita pockets, along with shredded crunchy lettuce. Finish the whole thing off with a generous drizzle of lemon tahini sauce.
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You can serve your roasted eggplant and tomato mix as side dish, without the pita bread. One thing though—make sure to serve it with the easy 5-minute lemon tahini sauce!!
My favorite grilling toy is a stainless steel cooking basket from Nordic Ware. Their Grill ‘N Shake Basket has sides so you can toss veggies without worrying about them falling through grill grates. It’s ideal for stir-fry-roasting the cumin and garlic seasoned eggplant.
I still like a flat grilling tray, but a grill basket is a step up in friendliness. This recipe for roasted eggplant and tomato pitas with lemon tahini sauce comes from playing with veggies in the grilling basket.
We’re here glamping in the Columbia River Gorge, the windy stretch of river between Oregon and Washington. We hang out on the Washington side of the river, in a funky old trailer with a very cozy kitchen, and mostly we cook outside. I forget the fact that our fridge space is at a premium and keep bringing home (almost) more produce that we can juggle.
No worries–nothing goes to waste thanks to the grill and our grilling toys. And all veggies are better with a flavorful sauce, and vegan tahini sauces are soooo versatile! You definitely will want to try this tahini tamari sauce with all it’s possible variations!
Already, our new grill ‘n shake basket has a patina. We’ve roasted zucchini chunks and fingerling potatoes in it, simply shaking them around every so often. We’re hosting a party on Sunday—I’m going to roast spicy chickpea snacks outdoors, in the grill basket instead if the oven!
About Nordic Ware:
- I received the Grill ‘N Shake basket from Nordic Ware. My opinions about the product are my own and not influenced by Nordic Ware.
- Nordic Ware is famous for Bundt pans, in fact, they own the copyright to the name. Bundt. Almost everything they sell is made at their plant in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- My experience is that high quality is what Nordic Ware sells. In my former life as a pastry chef, I spec’d their popover pans for baking chocolate bouchons. At home our treasured 12-inch non-stick skillet happens to be—yep–Nordic Ware. (We love our well-seasoned cast iron skillets, but sometimes non-stick is the only tool for jobs like sautéed tofu.)
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Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Pitas with Lemon Tahini Sauce
Recipe for roasted eggplant, cooked outside using a grill basket. Stuff into pita pockets with tomatoes and lettuce and finish with vegan lemon tahini sauce.
- 3 medium eggplants
- ¼ cup plus 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove (, minced)
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ to 2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes (, cut in half)
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 1 green onion (, chopped)
- About 3 romaine lettuce leaves (, cut in ¼-inch ribbons)
- 3 pita pocket bread rounds (, cut in half, gently pulled apart to make the pockets)
Lemony tahini sauce:
- ½ cup sesame tahini
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic (, minced)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- In stripes down the length of the eggplants, peel away half of the purple skin, leaving some skin on to keep the eggplant from falling apart while grilling. (You might not have peel if the eggplant is fresh from the garden or farmer’s market.)
- Cut the eggplant in 1 to 1 ½-inch chunks. Toss with the first ¼ cup of olive oil. Season with the garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper.
- Heat the grill to high—450°F. Spray the grill basket with cooking spray or brush lightly with oil. Place the empty basket on the hot grill for a few minutes. Dump the eggplant into the grill basket, stir to distribute evenly, and close the grill lid. Cook 10 minutes. Stir the eggplant again, close lid and cook another 5 minutes. Repeat and repeat again as needed–the eggplant should be tender with golden char color.
- Toss the tomato halves with the remaining olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, and stir into the grilled eggplant. Close lid and cook until the tomatoes are hot, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a platter, mixing in the parsley and green onion.
- Mix the sauce: Whisk the tahini and hot water in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and salt.
- Tuck lettuce and the eggplant mix into the pockets. Drizzle generously with tahini sauce.
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