If you love eggplant, you will love this recipe. Eggplant really shines when fried until golden and crisp. These wraps also feature toum, which is a Lebanese garlic sauce that is creamy, potent, and addictive, as well as çoban salatası, which is a Turkish shepherd salad made with tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, onion, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. As you can see, these wraps are just packed with summer veggies!
To make these wraps, you will first need to fry the eggplant slices in some oil until crisp and golden. Then, you will spread some toum over the flatbread of your choice, top with some romaine lettuce and fried eggplant, and spoon some Çoban salatası over the filling. Fold and roll the bread tightly, cut in half, and enjoy!
Customizing Your Wraps
You can customize these wraps to your liking by using different sauces, salads, or fillings. Here are some suggestions:
- Despite its creamy texture, toum is actually vegan. So, you can easily make these wraps vegan simply by omitting the feta.
- If you’re not a fan of big garlicky flavor, can’t find toum in a store and/or don’t feel like making your own, you can use hummus, tzatziki, baba ganoush, or tahini instead.
- Instead of fried eggplant, you can use grilled zucchini or falafel.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
These wraps are best served fresh, but you can also store and reheat the leftovers. Here are some tips:
- To store the leftovers, place the eggplant and salad in separate air-tight containers and place in the fridge.
- To serve the leftovers, simply reheat the eggplant in a lightly greased pan over medium high heat. Warm up the bread and assemble the wraps.
Fried Eggplant Wraps
For the fried eggplant:
- 2 large eggplants, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds
- Salt, to taste
- Cumin, to taste
- Vegetable oil, for frying
To Assemble:
- 4 pitas or other flat bread, such as lavash
- 1 cup of toum, store bought or homemade
- ½ batch of çoban salatası (recipe here)
- Romaine lettuce, shredded
- Crumbled feta (optional)
- Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the eggplant slices in batches until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes per side, turning once. Drain on paper towels and season with salt and a sprinkling of cumin.
- To assemble the sandwiches, warm the flat breads in a dry skillet over low heat for a few seconds, or in the microwave for 10 seconds, until soft and pliable. Keep them covered with a kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.
- Spread some toum over one side of each flat bread. Top with some romaine lettuce and fried eggplant slices, leaving some space at the edges. Spoon some Çoban salatası over the eggplant. Sprinkle on some feta if using. Wrap the bread up around the fillings.
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