Kelly began eating eggplant while living in Russia during her junior year of college. Eric & I had been unsuccessful in getting Kelly to try eggplant before that. But when someone other than your parents is offering you food and you are raised to be polite, you try it. When her host family made an eggplant dish, Kelly ate it and as it so often happens, once Kelly tried it, she liked it.

Last summer when the eggplant from the garden and at the local farms was ready, Eric made a grilled eggplant sandwich that we all loved. Kelly requested it recently when she & Gilbert were coming to dinner with some other guests. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find that recipe from last summer. Fortunately, it wasn’t a problem. Eric is able to remember ingredients of things he has made, even if it was a year ago. I couldn’t even remember eating it, let alone all the ingredients in it!

With Eric in charge, the sandwich naturally came out great and now that I’ve had it 5 or 6 times in about 3 weeks, I, too, can remember what goes into it, although I still can’t tell you where the recipe originated. And I probably won’t remember the ingredients in it next summer. But now I have it saved in the recipe folder on my computer so I know where to find it. Eric gets the recipe credit for this one!

But first, some interesting eggplant facts before the recipe:

While popular throughout the rest of the world, eggplant wasn’t widely eaten in the US until the 20th century, possibly due to the erroneous belief that eating eggplant caused insanity, leprosy and cancer.

Eggplants have spongy flesh and a meaty texture. They have a slightly bitter taste, especially the skin. Peeling the eggplant, removing the seeds and cooking it all decrease the bitterness.

Smaller, glossy eggplants are less bitter. Eggplants with a small, round indentation on the blossom end will have less seeds making them less bitter than those with a deeper, oval dimpled blossom end.

Click on the balsamic vinegar reduction and pickled red onion links in the ingredient list below for the recipes to make those ingredients, if desired.

Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches

Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches (recipe by Eric Heuser)  Serves 4-6

• 1 loaf Italian bread
• 1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick
• 4 ounces goat cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar reduction
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 cup arugula (about 1.5 ounces)
• 1 ounce pickled red onions

Split the loaf of bread open, separating the 2 halves. Brush each half with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and grill the bread for 2-3 minutes, cut side down, over medium heat.

Brush the bread with olive oil.

Brush the rest of the olive oil on the eggplant slices and grill them for 4-5 minutes per side, turning once.

Brush the eggplant slices with olive oil.

When the bread and eggplant slices are done, assemble the sandwich. Drizzle the balsamic reduction inside the top half of the loaf, allowing it to soak into the bread. Spread the goat cheese on the bottom half of the loaf.

Balsamic reduction on the top half & goat cheese on the bottom half of the loaf.

Layer the arugula on the goat cheese, then place the grilled eggplant slices on the bottom loaf, overlapping the slices slightly.

Start layering the rest of the ingredients on the bottom half.

Layer some pickled onions on top of the eggplant, if desired.

Replace the top on the sandwich.

Place the top half of the bread on the sandwich and slice the loaf of bread into 4-6 pieces.

Slice the loaf into individual serving sizes.

Serve immediately.

So good!

The grill is getting quite the workout this summer!  ~Linda

Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches (recipe by Eric Heuser)  Serves 4-6

• 1 loaf Italian bread
• 1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick
• 4 ounces goat cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar reduction
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 cup arugula (about 1.5 ounces)
• 1 ounce pickled red onions

Split the loaf of bread open, separating the 2 halves. Brush each half with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and grill the bread for 2-3 minutes, cut side down, over medium heat. Brush the rest of the olive oil on the eggplant slices and grill them for 4-5 minutes per side, turning once. When the bread and eggplant slices are done, assemble the sandwich. Drizzle the balsamic reduction inside the top half of the loaf, allowing it to soak into the bread. Spread the goat cheese on the bottom half of the loaf. Layer the arugula on the goat cheese, then place the grilled eggplant slices on the bottom loaf, overlapping the slices slightly. Layer some pickled onions on top of the eggplant, if desired. Place the top half of the bread on the sandwich and slice the loaf of bread into 4-6 pieces. Serve immediately.