eggplant recipes or the nudie beach… you decide!
As long as I can remember, I have LOVED everything eggplant! Specifically, parmesan, messy moussaka, or in a fabulous dip. Eggplant shows up in the kitchen with the most gorgeous dark purple or aubergine. I remember sitting in 7th grade French class thinking it was the most beautiful name for both the vegetable and the color of it. Flash forward to an incredible art history tour that I was lucky enough to be a part of in college, and that is when I completely fell in love. While my friends were frolicking on the nudie beach in Greece, I was knee high in eggplants in Mrs. Costas Boslakas’s kitchen. Thank goodness for fair skin that could not tolerate the blaring sun. I adored cooking with Mrs. Costas Boslakas, and she even shared her famous moussaka recipe with me! Who cares if it was scribbled in Greek on a little scratch paper!!
grilled eggplant drizzled with creamy garlic sauce
what do eggplants and chameleons have in common?
Eggplant sometimes gets a bad wrap. When it shows up on the menu, it usually stirs up some sort of discussion. My answer for tender and delicious eggplant is to grill it. Grilling quickly softens the eggplant and enhances the rich flavor. Eggplant is one of those funny vegetables that acts like a chameleon. It likes to take on the flavors of what you serve with it. For this recipe, I decided to mix up a delicious creamy garlic sauce to drizzle over the freshly grilled eggplant.
a lettuce witch hat?
From time to time, a really special and beautiful vegetable turns up at our local farmers market. This week was no exception. The little French eggplants (who knew?) were so pretty! They look like they have a little lettuce witch hat on their stem. I quickly bought a bagful and started to plan the sauce.
French eggplants
fresh lemon and garlic…. tell me MORE!
I like the idea of a cool and creamy sauce to drizzle over the grilled eggplant. Greek yogurt adds a surprisingly tangy rich flavor to the sauce. This particular recipe can be mixed up in just a few minutes and be ready to go when the eggplants come off the grill. Fresh lemon juice and garlic are a particularly good match with the tangy yogurt. Drizzle the sauce over the eggplant and you will have a new and delicious way to enjoy this beautiful vegetable. I think Mrs. Costas Boslakas would approve!
grilled eggplant drizzled with creamy garlic sauce
Fire up the grill and throw some eggplant slices on! The creamy, garlicky, and lemony sauce is the perfect match for grilled eggplant!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 9-12 slices of eggplant 1x
- Category: vegetables
- Method: grill and mixing bowl
Ingredients
9–12 1/2″ slices of eggplant
olive oil for brushing on eggplant
salt and pepper
Creamy sauce:
1 cup Greek yogurt
5 garlic scapes chopped fine ( alternatively you may use 3 cloves of minced garlic)
1 TB white balsamic vinegar
7 chopped mint leaves
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
Instructions
Slice the eggplants in 1/2″ thick pieces
Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil
Salt and Pepper both sides of eggplant slices
Grill on medium heat grill for 3-4 minutes per side, turning once for hashtag marks
Remove from grill and place on serving platter
Creamy Sauce:
Mix sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl
Add more fresh lemon juice to achieve desired drizzling consistency
Drizzle sauce over eggplant
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