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Marinated Grilled Eggplant with Mint
Background info: A member of the nightshade family, the eggplant is thought to have originated in India, with recent analysis finding cooked remnants among pottery shards dating back to 2600-1900 BCE. Eggplants (or aubergines, in the UK) didn’t start out as a dinner item, and were first used for medicinal purposes, due to their bitter and spongy nature. Even after hundreds of years of domestication by early farmers, eggplant still maintains an unpleasant after-taste if not prepared properly.
Today, this vibrant vegetable has charmed the culinary world with its unusual “meaty” texture and transmutable nature, which allows for its use in a wide variety of dishes, from the tomatoey ratatouille of French Provençal to the sweet and savory parmigiana di melanzane of southern Italy.
—Price-Pottenger
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Many years ago I saw a recipe in Gourmet magazine for marinated eggplant and ripped it out. I’ve added my own twist to it (a little less fuss, a little less sugar, and so forth) and it’s totally delicious. Perfect for a party because you can make it in advance, it also makes a great appetizer. It would be divine on an antipasto platter, too.
Ingredients:
Serves 4
- 1 large eggplant
- Salt
- 5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
- 1 clove garlic, crushed in a press
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint (I prefer apple mint)
Instructions:
- Cut the eggplant crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Sprinkle with salt and set aside in a colander for 30 minutes. Rinse the eggplant and pat dry with paper towels.
- Prepare a grill or preheat a large grill pan over high heat. Brush both sides of the eggplant with oil. Brush the grill grates or pan with more oil and grill the eggplant for a few minutes per side, until tender and charred. Transfer to a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
- In a bowl, mix together the vinegar, 2/3 cup oil, garlic, and mint. Drizzle the mixture over the eggplant and marinate at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours or overnight in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Reprinted by permission of Maria Rodale from Scratch: Home Cooking for Everyone Made Simple, Fun, and Totally Delicious (Rodale Inc., 2016). Visit mariarodale.com.
Photograph by Con Poulos.
Published in the Journal of Health and Healing™
Spring 2023 | Volume 47, Number 1
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