There are some vegetables out there that are not loved as much as others. They sit in their tiny, lonely bins in the produce section, and eventually a shopper who needs an obscure ingredient or someone who is more familiar with that vegetable will pick it up and toss it in their cart. I think eggplant falls into that category.
Ugly, isn’t it? It’s purple flesh and odd, seeded interior cause inexperienced cooks to shy away from experimenting with it. Sadly, there are many who miss out on how many wonderful ways in which this vegetable can be prepared. Grilling it is my favorite way to eat it. Here’s my latest find: Grilled Eggplant Salad with Feta, Pine Nuts & Garlicky Yogurt Dressing.
This really couldn’t be much simpler to make. Slice a large eggplant into 1/2-inch slices.
Place them on a heated grill and brush with olive oil.
Grill for 3 or 4 minutes on each side, until you see those wonderful grill marks and the eggplant is cooked through.
Even the dressing is simple… just a mix of olive oil, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, cumin & parsley.
Place the grilled eggplant on lettuce-lined plates and drizzle with dressing, feta and pine nuts. This is a wonderful main dish salad, or serve up as a side salad to roasted lamb, grilled chicken or something similar. If you’re not experienced with eggplant, I recommend you give this recipe a try. Our family loved it, and it was so easy to make. And if you’re already an eggplant fan, well then you know what I’m talking about… grilling it is the best!
This recipe can be found HERE.
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Other great-sounding grilled eggplant recipes on the blogs:
Kalyn’s Kitchen: Spicy Grilled Eggplant w/ Red Pepper, Parsley & Mint
Beyond Salmon: Honey- Garlic Grilled Eggplant
Love & Olive Oil: Indonesian-Style Grilled Eggplant w/ Spicy Peanut Sauce
Buff Chickpea: Grilled Eggplant Parmesan
Bell’Alimento: Grilled Eggplant w/ Tomato & Ricotta Salsa
22 Comments
Your grilled eggplant looks picture perfect.
yep..I am one of those who doesnt really care for eggplant. I mean I will eat it and all, but I certainly dont crave it. you make it sooo pretty!
Looks just wonderful! Wish I had an eggplant hanging around the kitchen.
I absolutely LOVE the sound of this combo. Great idea.
I’m an eggplant fan and this sounds great!
Looks fantastic — LOVE eggplant!
Nice idea adding those pinones — gives each bite a nice crunch I’ll bet! ; )
How absolutely delectable. Can’t wait to try it.
Lori, I *never* know how to prepare eggplant! But this looks perfect (and easy, hehe). We’ve been grilling veggies a lot this summer, but I hadn’t thought of adding eggplant. thank you!!
“You had me” at eggplant…but yogurt sauce and pignolis…ooh!
My favorite way to prepare egg plant is grilled, it just lends itself to so much flavor when cooked over high grill heat or open flame1
Hi Lori! Thanks so much for including me in your links
Mwah! Your eggplant recipe looks delish (as always) I totally agree & think that Eggplant is way too often overlooked! It’s so versatile & tasty!
I hate egg plant…. but that actually looks kinda good.
I didn’t like eggplant in the past but I’ve slowly been discovering new ways to have it which don’t involve it being oily mush. This is one of those delicious-looking recipes!
Ya know I’ve never tried cumin in yogurt… sounds like a home run for me. I’ll def try this, it’s a nice way to serve misunderstood eggplant.
I too wish I had an eggplant just hanging around. It may be raining today in New York but boy oh boy, I sure would fire up the grill for this dish! I love the idea of not having to sprinkle it with salt before grilling. That’s the one step I dislike when it comes to cooking eggplant. They say it makes it less acidic. With that sauce and those beauties, bring it on!!!
That’s funny that you should be spotlighting eggplant as one of my twins was just asking about eggplant parm which may be beyond me but I definitely think I can handle this one.
Thanks!
~ingrid
What a great looking salad! I personally think that eggplants are beautiful. They have beautiful shiny, smooth skin and the shape of them is just so exotic looking and then there is the meaty surprise that you encounter when you cut it open…can you tell I love eggplant???
It is amazing to me how many people hate eggplant, I LOVE it. Your recipe looks and sounds like dinner! Beautiful presentation.
Lovely presentation. I makes lots of grilled salad in the summer – eggplant, peppers, onions even romaine lettuce. Love that dressing!
I love eggplant – this looks fantastic.
I liked this recipe so much, I just had to borrow the link for a Salad Week post I just did! Thanks:)