Is it bad that I’m already looking forward to Friday? The Danish (is it Danish or Danishes??? I have to ask…) went really well yesterday but they took so long that we didn’t finish making them until like 1 AM! It was worth it. But it means that I’m now exhausted. I wanted a healthy and light dinner, but also something that wouldn’t take too much time since I want to hit the sack early! I got a beautiful eggplant on sale (only $1!) and this beautiful salad was born!

Lots of flavor, and lots of nutrition! (If I have a piece of fruit sometime tonight I will have successful made my 5-a-day again!)

You don’t have to grill the eggplant on a real grill, you could definitely pan-fry or roast it. But grilling gives it that amazing smoky flavor, it really takes the salad up a notch. I grilled the tomatoes too, just for extra flavor!

Grilled Balsamic Eggplant Salad

• 1/4 of an eggplant (or a half if you really like it!)
• 2 small tomatoes on the vine
• 2 c. fresh spinach leaves
• 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
• 3 T. olive oil
• salt, pepper, and steak seasoning to taste

-Slice the eggplant and tomatoes into thick slices and toss them in the vinegar, olive oil, and seasoning to taste (I use about 1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and steak seasoning). Let sit on a plate at room temperature for 15 minutes in the dressing.

-Grill the slices over a medium-high heat, with the eggplant over direct flame and tomatoes over indirect (keep that plate with the dressing in it!). Turn every few minutes until they are tender all the way through and browned on the outside.

-As they finish cooking, remove them with tongs back onto the plate with the dressing in it (they will soak up the extra dressing).

Yum! I’m saving the extra eggplant slices for a lunch wrap tomorrow!

-When everything is finished cooking, let it cool on the plate for about 5 minutes. Slice the eggplant tomato and place them on the bed of spinach. Top with a little more balsamic vinegar (or whatever salad dressing) and a little grated Parmesan cheese, if desired. Makes 1 large salad.

Perfect for the summer! I anticipate I will be making many more grilled veggie salads like this in the future.

I hope that I can make some bread tomorrow, I feel like it’s been too long again! I know I made this just a few days ago:

But the whole dozen was gone in a day! So it’s definitely time for more bread. I think I might test my skills and spring for a sourdough this time.

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren