Giada's Grilled Eggplant & Goat Cheese Salad

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe. It is delicious with amazing flavors and textures. The only thing I so different is I reduce my balsamic down for a few minutes before drizzling it over the eggplant to make it stick better. If you choose to reduce yours down too, let it cool for a 10-15 minutes prior to drizzling.

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.

Grillin'

Hi Girls! I know it's been a while since I put a post together so here is last nights dinner. It was easy, delicious & stress-free grilling. I made a balsamic glaze marinated chicken breast with purple smashed potatoes and grilled zucchini. I used the lamb balsamic marinade idea for the chicken and it worked beautifully.

Balsamic Marinade:

1/2 Cup Balsamic, reduced (I put mine in a nonstick sauté pan and let it reduce and thicken for about 15 minutes)

2 Tablespoons Dijon

1/4 Cup Honey

1-2 Springs fresh Rosemary, minced

2 Cloves minced garlic

Salt & Pepper

Mix everything together and pour over the seasoned (salt and pepper) boneless, skinless chicken breasts to sit at room temperature for about 25- 30 minutes while the coals/grill heat up. Pop them on for about 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness.

Purple Smashed Potatoes:

10 small purple potatoes

4 Pads Butter

1/4-1/3 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Sour Cream

This is just like any other smashed potato but I used purple ones. They were so cool and had a great color. I'm always looking for ways to liven up smashed potatoes and this was a great. You can use your favorite recipe, simply substitute your red skinned potatoes for the purple ones. I also left the skins on because I like the texture.

Grilled Zucchini:

Cut them in half lengthwise after cutting off the ends. Drizzle them with olive oil, salt and pepper and grill starting with the flesh side down first. Grill for 8-10 minutes. They get beautiful grill marks but are still tender and al dente in the middle.

This is an easy menu but it's got a lot of flavor and pretty colors.

xoxoxoxoxo