Grilled, Marinated Eggplant

Not being deterred from my experience earlier in the week, I decided it was too nice to let Thursday evening go to waste by cooking inside, so it was time to fire up the grill. With my new, nonstick grill sheet in hand and a huge eggplant in the queue I thought it would be the perfect marriage. So I peeled and sliced the eggplant and marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper, threw it all together in a baggie, shook it up and let it marinate in the fridge for half an hour or so.

I've never grilled eggplant before, but I've heard good things, it seems like a natural choice since eggplant is firm, not too juicy, and absorbs flavors pretty easily.

I fired up the grill to get everything preheated accordingly, got out my grill sheet, put the eggplant on a plate, grabbed the tongs and spatula and started the cooking. Of course, learning from my previous experience, I turned the heat on low before putting the eggplant on the grill. I didn't need my food to come off extra crispy!

I was pleased, the eggplant fit on my grill sheet perfectly.

5 minutes on one side, and flip to cook for another 5 minutes.

After the eggplant was done I put it back on the plate, brushed with a little bit of the marinade and topped with some freshly chopped basil from my basil plant. 

I think you'll see that it looked delicious. And let me tell you, it tasted just as good! Success!  Hopefully this is the first of many more yummy grilled meals to come!

 

Outcome = delicious

Lessons learned:

1) eggplant will sweat a little bit when it's marinated, there's no need to have it swimming in the marinade when you first put it together

2) Put the thicker pieces closer to the burners and the thinner pieces further away.

Views from my patio. How could anyone resist grilling on such a beautiful evening?