I’m not usually a fan of composed salads, but the other day I was looking for something to make and I realized that I had three major ingredients that were vaguely cylindrical in shape: eggplant, heirloom tomatoes, and scamorza cheese (a smoked mozzarella with some butter at the center). I originally planned on stacking them, but as you can see they fell over while I was constructing it. I figured that I wouldn’t force it, and anyway it looks good the way it turned out.

Start by peeling the eggplant and cutting rounds out of it. Fry the rounds in olive oil over medium heat until golden brown on both sides, not adding any salt or pepper. As they cook, you can slice some rounds of tomato, and salt them lightly. For the dressing I combined lemon juice, marjoram, and olive oil and blended them up with salt and pepper.

Then just stack everything — an eggplant round, a slice of tomato, a slice of eggplant, a slice of cheese, etc. I seasoned the whole thing with salt and pepper and then poured the dressing over the top.

Unfortunately for me I still didn’t like the raw tomatoes, but when slathered in dressing and sandwiched with eggplant I could just barely stand it. I’m sure if you like tomatoes you’ll be fine. The warmth and softness of the eggplant matches so well with the cool crispness of the tomato, and the acidic, herb-filled dressing wraps everything up nicely. The eggplant also slightly melts the cheese. Plus, it’s real pretty.

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