Super foods recipe: avocado and eggplant stacks

A topping of haloumi cheese adds a taste of Cyprus to little towers of tender sun-ripened vegetables for an enticing mix of textures and flavours. Just add a tomato salad to complete the recipe.

•  Unusual for a fruit, avocados are high in fat — 20 grams in half an avocado — though most of the fat is the healthy, monounsaturated kind that helps to lower blood cholesterol and keep hearts healthy.
• Avocados are also rich in fibre.
• Half an avocado provides one-quarter of your total daily fibre needs.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Cooking: 12 minutes

Serves 4

• 1 large eggplant, about 450 g (1 lb)
• 30 g (2 tbsp) olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Grated zest of 1 lemon and juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 firm ripe avocados
• 230 g (1/2 lb) haloumi cheese
• 30 g (2 tbsp) slivered almonds

1. Preheat the broiler to high and line the broiler pan with foil. Trim and cut the eggplant into 12 slices. Place the eggplant on the foil. Mix the oil and garlic and brush sparingly over the eggplant. Broil for four minutes, or until just beginning to brown. Turn over, brush with more oil and broil for another four minutes, or until tender.
2. Put the lemon zest and juice in a shallow non-metallic dish. Cut the avocados into quarters. Peel and cut each quarter into three slices, coating them in the lemon juice to prevent discolouration. Cut the haloumi into 12 slices.
3. Sprinkle the almonds over the eggplant and arrange three avocado slices, with the lemon zest, on each. Top each stack with a slice of haloumi and brush with any remaining oil. Broil for four minutes, or until the cheese browns.

•  Try Indian paneer or mozzarella cheese instead of the haloumi. Paneer retains a similarly firm texture during cooking, but the mozzarella will melt.
•  If you don't have fresh lemon, use 30 grams (two tablespoons) of bottled lemon juice. The recipe will taste just as good but with a slightly less zingy flavour.
•  You can use pine nuts instead of slivered almonds.
•  Sliced tomatoes can be broiled on top of the eggplant — substitute them for the almonds or the avocado slices. Use one to two tomato slices for each slice of eggplant.

• For a balanced stack, layer a large slice of eggplant, then a medium slice of avocado and finally a small slice of cheese. If top-heavy, the stacks will topple over.
• If the heat is not evenly distributed under the broiler, rearrange the eggplant slices when turning them so they brown all over.

Nutritional information: 465 calories • 42 g fat • 15 g saturated fat• 6 g carbohydrates • 16 g protein • 6 g fibre.