Salad of oven-dried tomatoes, aubergine, sweet pointed peppers and black olives

These are the ingredients you need

2 aubergines - 2 sweet pointed peppers - 40 oven-dried tomatoes - 4 tablespoons olive oil - 3-4 garlic cloves - 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves - 75 g pitted black olives - 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar - salt and pepper - a small handful of basil leaves

Preparation

Cut the aubergines into slices 1 cm thick and then into halves. Cut the sweet pointed peppers in half, remove their seeds, and cut them into strips about 1 ½ cm wide. Cut garlic cloves into thin slices. Heat the oil in a large skillet and sauté the aubergine slices over low heat for 5 minutes. Add the pepper strips, garlic and thyme and braise for another 5 minutes over low heat. Then add the oven-dried tomatoes. Cut the black olives in half and add them to the vegetables along with the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Remove the skillet from the heat and marinate at room temperature for 1 hour, gently stirring now and then. Tear the basil leaves into pieces and combine with the vegetables. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.

Makes a nice accompaniment to grilled meats such as lamb chops.

Variations

For lunch, serve the salad with chunks of canned tuna. Focaccia makes a nice accompaniment.