Eggplant

[Gourmet_Mom]

OK, so this may have gotten lost in the Friday dinner thread, so I decided to post it here. I liked it that much.

I keep FN on the tube on Saturdays and pop in and out...depending on who's on. Last weekend, Giada made this and I was fascinated. We like eggplant...parmesian and just fried, but this was different. I can't wait for mine to mature to make it again...even if the boys weren't crazy about it. There's enough eggplant to make this AND the PARM. So here it is... (See my notes.)


* Exported from MasterCook *

Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad

Recipe By :Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 small eggplant -- Japanese; ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch wide slices
1/4 cup pine nuts -- toasted
1 1/2 ounces goat cheese -- crumbled
1/8 cup basil -- thinly sliced
1 tablespoon mint -- chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.

Drizzle the olive oil over the slices of eggplant and toss to coat.

Grill the eggplants until tender and grill marks appear, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Place the eggplants side-by-side on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the pine nuts, goat cheese, basil, and mint. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Cook's note: Plating the eggplant salad this way allowed the cheese to stay bright white. The salt and pepper showed up on it. The herbs remained green and fluffy. The grill marks on the eggplant were distinct.

Description:
"A great summer side dish!"
Source:
"Food Network Everyday Italian"
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 300 Calories; 19g Fat (53.0% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 12g Dietary Fiber; 11mg Cholesterol; 168mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 5 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 3 Fat.

NOTES : 6/20/08 Made this and really enjoyed it. It's a perfect summer side dish. Changes: I recently had a pasta dish with a mix of mint and basil and did not care for the combination, so I just increased the basil and omitted the mint. I probably used a little more pine nuts and goat cheese, just because I like both ingredients. I just eyeballed what I thought looked good. The store was out of Japanese eggplant, so I just used 2 small regular eggplant. I made sure I salted, drained, and rinsed them before grilling. Definitely make again!

[cjs]

that does sound good.

[farnfam]

OH yum, Daph. Eggplant is my all time most favorite veggie. This is on the must do list. Any suggestions for a sub for the goat cheese? I can hardly ever find that here.
Cis
Empress for Life

[Mare749]

We just love grilled eggplant, and this sounds like a tasty variation from what we usually do.

I cut the eggplant into rounds, brush with olive oil, grill for a few minutes on each side and top with mozzarella or provolone after turning, and serve warm with a little spaghetti sauce. I have also layered this with ricotta for an eggplant lasagna.

[labradors]

Quote:

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Any suggestions for a sub for the goat cheese? I can hardly ever find that here.

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Feta is another goat cheese, and helps for some of these things, but it is saltier, so you may need to cut back on the salt elsewhere.

Otherwise, even cream cheese can work. When I worked in the restaurant, and people would ask me what the goat cheese was like, I would just say that it was essentially a slightly tangy cream cheese, and that is really pretty close to what it is.

[farnfam]

Thanks Rob! And Mare, I like the idea of the mozzarella too.
Cis
Empress for Life