Grilled Eggplant with Balsamic Honey Syrup ♥

Simple grilled eggplant topped with fresh thyme and drizzled with a balsamic & honey syrupSlowly but surely, I'm finally grooving with the grill, attacking the easy stuff first. Grilled corn in the husk. Now grilled eggplant. How're my grill marks, not bad, eh?!

It was late when I turned on the grill, then looked for a recipe for eggplant I picked up over the weekend. The thing I love most about Everyday Vegetables by Jack Bishop (thanks again, Kalyn!) is that reliably, at the very last minute, it's (1) easy to find a recipe that (2) appeals with (3) the ingredients are already on hand and (4) cooks in a flash. Did I mention delicious, too? That goes without saying ... plus I'm pleased to add to a small but growing collection of grilled vegetable recipes.

This, for sure, fits my definition of real food, the favorite recipes and techniques and sources you turn to again and again. If there's anything that I strive to share with A Veggie Venture and Kitchen Parade, my published food column, it's real food.

NUTRITION NOTES It took a full two tablespoons of oil and garlic to brush the eggplant. Are there tricks to using less oil when grilling vegetables? I'd appreciate your tips.

TOOL TIP While I've long discarded all the silly silicone baking gear that was so much the rage a couple of years ago, I do love my silicone basting brush.



FROM THE ARCHIVES For more great every-day vegetable recipes from Jack Bishop, just type 'Bishop' in the Search Box at the top of the page.

See the Recipe Box for all the eggplant recipes but I especially recommend my recipe for ratatouille (isn't it cool that kids and grown-ups everywhere are learning that ratatouille is a recipe as well as a rat?!!) plus the Eggplant, Tomato & Mozzarella Sandwiches and the Thai Roasted-Eggplant Salad.

A YEAR AGO THIS WEEK King Hill Farms Simple & Sublime Beets ... "But this "recipe" ~ if you can call something so supremely simple such ~ has changed my beet-cooking habits forever."

TWO YEARS AGO I made Holy Slaw! for the first time. It was so good, in 2006 it appeared in a Kitchen Parade column.

GRILLED EGGPLANT with BALSAMIC HONEY SYRUP

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 25 minutes
Serves 4

1 pound eggplant (I used three of the thinner Japanese eggplant, each yielded three slices)

2 tablespoons good olive oil
2 - 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced (I used home-grown 'wet' garlic that yielded more garlic juice than flesh so two cloves was plenty)
Salt & pepper

SYRUP
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey

Fresh thyme (or other fresh herbs)

Heat grill. (If you're an experienced griller, you know how to do this. Me, I'm new, I set the gas grill on medium and let it heat up while I continue the prep. It's plenty hot by the time the eggplant is ready.)

Trim the eggplant, then slice lengthwise in half-inch thick strips. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil and garlic. Brush the cut sides of the eggplant with oil/garlic mixture, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on the grill for about 8 minutes, turning halfway through.

While eggplant grills, mix balsamic vinegar and honey in a small pan and bring to a boil. Let cook down til quite thick.

Layer the grilled eggplant on a platter, drizzle with the syrup. Sprinkle with fresh thyme.



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How to eat more vegetables? A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and the best source of free vegetable recipes with 700+ quick and easy favorite vegetable recipes, the Alphabet of Vegetables, Weight Watchers low-point recipes and microwave vegetable recipes.

Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Oh I love the sound of this. I really enjoy eggplant warm from the grill. I syrup here sounds really delicious! A must try!

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  2. This sounds just yummy. Now if I can get some eggplants growing on my plant. So far flowers, but no eggplant.

    Don't you just love grilled veggies? I'd say grilling and roasting are my two favorite ways to cook most kinds of vegetables.

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  3. Discarding your silicone bakeware? Wish you had sent it this way!!! Living on a boat, there's nothing quite like baking trays that squish away into corners :)

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  4. Mmmm, I love honey on vegetables, sounds delicious.

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  5. Honey, balsamic, garlic on eggplant, wow Alanna this sounds lovely!
    Your grill marks look lovely.

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  6. Lovely.

    You should be very proud of those grill marks!

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  7. Things you could try to lower the fat: sprinkle un-salted powdered garlic, then cover slices w/ olive oil non-stick cooking spray. In addition, use the cooking spray to coat your grill grids before you heat up. You could also take a tablespoon of the vinegar fr/ the syrup to replace 1/2 the oil, or just sub 1/2 the oil w/ more vinegar.

    I hate my silicon bakeware, too, Alanna. First (and last) time I used it, I got burned removing muffins fr/ oven.

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  8. AnonymousJuly 24, 2007

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  9. AnonymousJuly 24, 2007

    I bought an oil pump mister several months ago (bought mine at crate and barrel). It has changed the way I cook, especially veggies. I don't have easy access to a grill, but about once a week I'll slice up some veggies, spritz with olive oil from the mister, sprinkle on some flake salt and black pepper, and cook til it starts to brown. I'm sure if you wanted to spritz the veggies and then brush with a cut clove of garlic it would be delicious as well- alternatively, maybe you could use garlic infused olive oil, then you would have both flavors with less work and would use less oil.

    Rachael (a long-time lurker)

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  10. Wow! What a great blog. I love eggplant and always looking for new ways to prepare it. Will have to try this. I'm mostly vegetarian and love to write about recipes I've tried out too!

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  11. AnonymousJuly 25, 2007

    My husband is not a big eggplant fan, but I bet I could get him to try it with this yummy-sounding syrup...maybe diced into a salad with other grilled vegetables too -- portabellos, perhaps, and a bit of goat cheese...now you've got me itching to fire up the grill!

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  12. This Grilled Eggplant recipe is tasty and healthy!!!

    Morgan
    wwww.recipebuddys.com

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  13. I made this last week, and since I was cooking for just one, had lots of leftovers, even though I used only one eggplant. Today, I used an immersion blender to whir few of the slices, along with a little bit of the syrup, heated it up, and ate it over pasta. Surprisingly good! I think it also will be a good dip for some pieces of toasted pita. Thanks for the versatile recipe!

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna