Grilled Eggplant with Tomato Goat Cheese Relish

As much as I complain about moving to Florida there is always one thing that knocks some appreciation into me – the weather this time of year.

Left to my own devises I would be pretty clueless as to the climatic conditions anywhere but my front yard. My husband however is a Weather Channel junky. Seriously, it can start to rain outside and the guy runs to the TV and clicks on the Weather Channel. Honestly, can’t he just look outside the window and see that it is raining?

Anyway, it seems that the rest of the country is not really blessed with 80 degree weather this time of year. Huh? Who knew it could be cold and snowy and dismal elsewhere when here it is sunny and warm and glorious?

This glorious weather feels like summer so I needed a summer dish to celebrate.

One of my favorite foods in eating gluten free is eggplant. I substitute noodles with grilled eggplant in my lasagna, I slice and grill Japanese eggplants and top with anything one would normally top Bruschetta and I use grilled eggplant as a base for little gluten free pizzas. If you are going gluten free trust me when I say embrace the eggplant!

I usually grill eggplant on top of the stove in a grill pan but you can grill them on a barbeque or broil under a hot broiler if you don’t have a grill pan.

Serve with a salad of arugula lighted dressed with lemon juice and olive oil for a great lunch or light dinner.

Grilled Eggplant with Tomato and Goat Cheese Relish

2 medium eggplants
¼ cup olive oil plus more for brushing eggplant
Salt
Pepper
4 large tomatoes – seeded and chopped
1 small sweet white onion or red onion – chopped
4 ounces goat cheese
¼ cup basil leaves chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferable Greek oregano)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Combine chopped tomatoes and onions with a big pinch or two of salt, a big pinch or pepper, ¼ cup olive oil, basil, oregano and balsamic vinegar. Let marinate for a few minutes to meld the flavors. Meanwhile prepare the eggplant.

Cut ends off eggplants and slice ½ inch thick. Heat a grill pan over high heat until hot or heat grill until hot. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill eggplant slices about 4 or 5 minutes until you get nice grill marks and the slices are golden brown. Turn over and cook until eggplant is softened and cooked through about 3 or 4 minutes.

Just before serving, crumble the goat cheese into the tomato mixture and mix gently to combine. With a large slotted spoon top each grilled eggplant slice with a spoonful of the tomato goat cheese mixture.

Serves 6 - 8.