Spicy Grilled Eggplant with Red Pepper, Parsley, & Mint

Posted on Posted in Healthy Recipes

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small globe eggplants (or 2-3 long Asian eggplants)
1-2 tsp. salt, to remove water from eggplant (not needed for Asian eggplant)
1-2 T olive oil, to brush eggplant for grilling
2 T chopped parsley
2 T chopped mint
(You can use all mint or parsley if you don’t have both.)

Spicy Sauce Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. garlic puree (from a jar) or finely minced fresh garlic (or less if you don’t love garlic)
1 tsp. Aleppo Pepper (or less, to taste. Use whatever kind of red pepper flakes you have. Start with a small amount and taste before you add all the red pepper.)
1 tsp. Spike Seasoning (optional, but highly recommended)

Instructions:

Remove stem end and wash eggplant, but do not peel. Cut eggplant into slices about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick, being careful to make all slices the same thickness. (Cut Asian eggplant on the diagonal to get bigger slices.) Arrange eggplant in single layer on double-thick paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Let liquid ooze out for 20 minutes, then turn over and sprinkle other side with salt and let drain 20 minutes more. (If you’re using Asian eggplant, they don’t need to be salted.)

While eggplant drains, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic puree, Aleppo Pepper, and Spike. Chop mint and parsley. Preheat gas or charcoal barbecue grill to medium high.

After the second 20 minutes has finished, cover the eggplant pieces with another layer of paper towels and press down with your hands to squeeze out water. Wipe eggplant dry. Lay them out on a baking sheet (or paper towels) and brush both sides with olive oil.

Place eggplant on grill and cook 4-5 minutes per side, rotating after a few minutes on each side if you want to get nice grill marks. Watch them carefully because they go from nicely browned to overly dark quite quickly.

When eggplant is done, remove from grill and place in a single layer in a baking dish (or use the same baking sheet you used to oil them.) Spoon some of the spicy sauce over each piece of eggplant, and let sit 10-15 minutes so eggplant can absorb sauce flavors.

To serve, assemble eggplant on serving plate and sprinkle with mint and parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This recipe can be found at Kalyn’s Kitchen.
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