Picture a platter of grilled purple Japanese eggplant slices, drizzled with date syrup and creamy tahini and showered with creamy green roasted pistachios and garnet red pomegranates on top. Israeli cooking is sweeping through California, from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. Chefs are using the state's freshest produce in creative dishes like chicken shawarma with carrot mole or lamb kebobs.

I tasted a version of this at Jaffa restaurant and immediately went home to recreate it for the home cook. I particularly like to use Japanese eggplant for their easy serving size as well as their delicate texture. This may look like a lot of ingredients, but is it easy to assemble and can be made hours ahead with just the garnish to be added just before serving.

You'll need to track down tahini and Silan (date syrup) in your grocery store, but that's the toughest part of this recipe. I like using a squeeze bottle of date syrup for easy drizzling. Tahini means sesame seed paste and tahina is the sauce that is made with tahini. If you make the tahina sauce up ahead, make sure to thin it out a little with hot water before plating. Serve this as a first course or on a salad buffet. Don't forget the warm pita bread to serve alongside.

Grilled Eggplant Salad

Serves 6 to 8

For the eggplant:

6 Japanese eggplants, sliced 1/2-inch thick, makes about 4 slices per eggplant

Spray olive oil for the eggplant

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the tahina sauce:

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