Grilled Eggplant

Grilled Eggplant is probably the simplest way to cook eggplant.  Grilling eggplant let’s the vegetable stand out in all it’s flavor.  All you need is good olive oil, salt, garlic and the grill.  You can’t get more basic than that.  More often than not, the simplest dishes are best.

A trick to cooking eggplant is salting it first.  Many people argue that it’s not necessary, but let me tell you, I’ve tried it both ways, and salting it first gives you a more tender eggplant, without any bitterness.  So, before cooking you will generously salt the sliced eggplant and let sit 30 minutes to 1 hour.  It’s even better if you place a bit of weight on the eggplant.  I like to stack plates on top of the slices.  When the time is up, you will see moisture that’s been released from the eggplant .  Rinse the salt off and dry well before grilling.

I like to use Italian or Japanese Eggplant.  Slice lengthwise.  Make sure your slices are thin, but not so thin that the eggplant falls apart.  If you use regular eggplant, you can slice the eggplant in disc shapes.  Try not to buy the really large eggplant.  This is where bigger is not better.  The larger the eggplant, the more bitter and tougher they tend to be.

Arrange the sliced eggplant on a plate and ….

Salt generously

Now start stacking your well-salted eggplant

or use whatever method you like, to add some weight to help purge the excess moisture from the eggplant.

After 30 minutes to 1 hour, remove the eggplant.  You can see all the moisture that’s left behind.

Rinse to remove the excess salt, and dry well.

Brush both sides of eggplant with some extra virgin olive oil

Grill eggplant. I grill mine on the barbecue grill.  Cook about 3 minutes on each side, give or take, till you have nice grill marks and the eggplant is tender.

Remove from heat

Add some sliced garlic, about 1 – 2 cloves, and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

And voila, that’s it.   Serve room temperature, or even better, cold the next day.

Enjoy!