Eggplant and bean salad for the winter

Soak the beans for the snack overnight. In the morning, drain the water from the beans and rinse them under running water, carefully covering them with clean water. Bring to a boil, drain the water. Pour cool water over the beans again, bring it back to a boiling state, reduce the heat. Cook the beans over moderate heat until done. The time depends on the type of beans. The main thing is not to overcook the beans, so they don't turn mushy. Carefully drain the cooked beans in a colander.

Cut the eggplants into sticks about 1 cm thick. If the eggplants are bitter, soak the cut eggplants in salty water (1 tbsp salt per 1 liter of water) for 30 minutes. Then rinse the slices of eggplant under running water. If you are sure that the eggplants chosen for preservation are not bitter, then soaking them in salty water is not necessary.

Cut the peeled onion into thin half-rings. Peel the carrot and grate it on a grater (with large holes) or cut it into thin strips with a knife.

Remove the seeds from the pepper pods, then cut them into strips and add them to the onion and carrot.

Peel the garlic cloves, grate them on a fine grater or press them through a garlic press. Cut a piece of hot pepper to taste and chop it finely with a knife.

Peel the tomatoes and grind them through a meat grinder. If the seeds in the tomato mass are bothersome, you can run the tomatoes through a juicer. Add the chopped garlic and pepper to the tomato mass, which we put on the heat. We also add sugar, salt, and vegetable oil according to the recipe. After mixing all the ingredients with the tomato, bring the resulting mass to a boil. Then cover the pot with the tomato mass with a lid and simmer on low heat for 3 minutes.

Add the chopped onion, bell pepper, and carrot to the pot with the tomato sauce. Stir the vegetables in the tomato and stew for 25 minutes. Stir the mixture occasionally.

After adding the cooked beans, stew the eggplants with the beans and the other vegetables for another 5 minutes. After that, pour in the vinegar and turn off the heat under the pot.

The eggplant and white bean salad is immediately (still hot) distributed into sterilized jars. Seal the jars tightly with boiled lids using a special key (or screw on metal lids), carefully turn them upside down onto the neck. Wrapping them with a warm blanket, leave the jars under it for a day. The salad can be stored in the apartment.

The eggplant and bean salad for the winter turns out tasty both hot and cold.

Bon Appétit!