Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad

Cook Time: 8 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 4-6 appetizer servings

Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 7 Japanese eggplant, ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch wide slices
* 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
* 3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
* 1/3 cup basil, thinly sliced
* 2 tablespoons chopped mint
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

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.