Fried eggplants are a popular and wonderfully tasty dish. But when roasting in a pan, they absorb a lot of fat and as a result they get too high in calories.
Cooking on a grill minimizes the use of fats, and cooked vegetables are no less tasty.
Grilled eggplants are used in the preparation of various salads and appetizers; they are served with meat and fish. A selection of grilled eggplant recipes is a wonderful occasion to supplement the menu with healthy vegetable dishes.
Grilled Eggplants - General Cooking Principles
• Cooking eggplants on the grill is possible, not only having chosen the nature. A microwave or oven with the “Grill” mode, a special ribbed frying pan, as well as an electric grill, make it possible to cook eggplants in an original way and at home. The taste of the vegetable does not get worse, the only difference is that its pieces do not have the characteristic smell of a fire. But this can be corrected, a couple of minutes before readiness, by slightly sprinkling them with liquid smoke.
• When choosing a vegetable, pay attention to its appearance. Peel should not be wrinkled and dry. Bright-colored, shiny and smooth skin - a sign of a quality product. Do not take large eggplants, as a rule, they are overripe and contain many seeds.
• For grilling, the vegetable is cut into longitudinal plates or rings. To peel off or not depends on the purpose for which grilled eggplants will be used. For salads, it is usually removed.
• Most vegetable varieties have a characteristic bitterness. You can get rid of it in several ways: soak it in strong saline solution or stand for some time under the yoke, first sprinkled with salt. In any case, after such a procedure, eggplants should be well washed and dried.
• Spread slices only on a well-heated grill, pre-greased with vegetable oil. First, fry one side until ruddy, gently turn it over and also fry the other. Before baking and turning, the side to be heated is moistened well with oil. On average, each side will take no more than five minutes. • Often, before frying, sliced eggplants are kept in the marinade. Such a simple technique allows you to improve their taste. The recipe of the universal marinade, which, by the way, is suitable not only for eggplants, but also for other vegetables is described below.
• Grilled eggplants can be served as a snack on their own or with special sauces. They are ideal as a side dish for any meat or even fish. They, and other vegetables prepared in this way, are often used in salads and cold snack dishes.
Simple spicy grilled eggplant appetizer
Ingredients:
• eggplants, fresh - 600 gr .;
• four spoons of high-quality olive oil;
• garlic;
• fresh parsley, mint leaves;
• table 9% vinegar;
• half pepper pod, spicy variety.
Preparation:
1. A thin layer cut off the peel from eggplants. Cut the flesh with longitudinal plates, half a centimeter thick. We spread the slices on the grill and bake, turning on the opposite side, after golden staining.
2. Prepare the sauce for vegetables. In a small bowl or plate pour olive oil. Pressing with a press, add two cloves of garlic and finely chopped hot peppers. Put the finely chopped mint leaves and parsley, chopped in the same way, stir.
3. Put the cooled slices of eggplant in a wide dish, slightly add and pour the prepared marinade. Pour all over the vinegar and put in the fridge for an hour.
Eggplants on the grill - “Savory rolls with cheese”
Ingredients:
• eggplants, large - 2 pcs .;
• olive oil - six full spoons;
• 340 grams of mozzarella;
• fresh basil;
• balsamic vinegar;
• four fresh tomatoes, cultivar "Cream".
Preparation:
1. Wash the eggplants and, without removing the peel, cut along the plate. We remove the end parts - there is practically no pulp on them. Spread the slices on the board and sprinkle with salt on top. After standing at room temperature for about twenty minutes, rinsed, thoroughly washing away the released bitterness and salt residues. Then lay on a towel, give dry well. 2. We warm up to the average temperature of the grill. We cover the grid with foil, lay the eggplants over it. We lubricate the surface of vegetable plates with vegetable oil, cook for five minutes, then turn it over and, brushing the back side, bring it to softness.
3. Grilled eggplants are laid out on a wide dish. On the edges of the plates we put on a small slice of cheese, a thin slice of tomato and a leaf of basil. Wrap in the form of rolls and again put on the grill. Heat until cheese starts to melt.
4. Before serving, grease vegetable rolls with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with vinegar.
Grilled eggplants with sweet peppers under Balsamic marinade
Ingredients:
• three fruits of sweet Bulgarian pepper;
• two medium eggplants;
• 100 ml of high-quality oil, sunflower or olive;
• one lemon;
• soy sauce - a full spoon;
• two teaspoons of brown sugar;
• black pepper, ground in a mortar;
• chilli;
• one third of a spoonful of freshly ground coriander seeds;
• 1/2 tsp. mixes "Provencal herbs";
• garlic;
• three tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
Preparation:
1. Shorter than cut the stem of vegetables. Eggplant along the entire length of the cut into plates, and the peppers into four parts and remove from them all the seeds. Eggplants can not be peeled, it is enough to remove a thin layer of peel only from two opposite sides.
2. Sprinkle vegetables with oil, slightly add. We spread on a well-heated grill and fry on both sides until softened - first slices of peppers, and then eggplant slices. Put the fried vegetables on a plate.
3. Cooking marinade. We clean three cloves of garlic and chop them finely. Over moderate heat, warm up some butter in a frying pan, lower the garlic. Stirring, fry for three minutes and add soy sauce. Add peppers, chopped chilli, coriander and provencan herbs. Here we also squeeze the juice from the lemon, pour the vinegar and pour in the sugar. Well stirred, bring the marinade to a boil and immediately, without allowing to cool, pour them vegetables. 4. Gently mix the peppers with eggplants and marinade, then leave for two hours in a cool place.
Grilled eggplants in tomato-garlic sauce
Ingredients:
• unripe eggplants - 4 pcs .;
• three fleshy large tomatoes;
• garlic;
• some fresh dill;
• 50 ml of refined oil;
• a tablespoon of lemon juice, filtered through cheesecloth.
Preparation:
1. Eggplants washed, dried, cut into plates. Using scissors or a knife, chop the tender greens of dill.
2. Squeeze lemon juice, mix it with butter. Add a little chopped dill and mix the marinade well again.
3. Heat the grill and carefully lubricate the grill with oil. One side of the eggplant is richly covered with marinade and put the plates on the grid. Having rounded one side, turn over and fry the “wrong side”. Before turning, do not forget to grease with marinade.
4. Remove the finished eggplants from the grill, add them to the bowl, and place the tomatoes cut in half on the wire rack. Cook until noticeable softening.
5. Remove the peel from slightly cooled tomatoes and smash their flesh with a blender. It is permissible to grind or grind in a large grater.
6. In a cooked tomato, rub three garlic cloves through a fine grater. Add the pre-chopped dill and, lightly salted, mix well. Pour eggplants with this sauce and let stand for a while.
Grilled eggplants with cheese and greens
Ingredients:
• salted salmon - 200 g;
• three small eggplants;
• small lemon;
• non-aromatic sunflower oil;
• garlic;
• Young parsley, dill or basil - at your discretion.
Preparation:
1. Cut the eggplants into centimeter-thick circles and, lightly sprinkling salt, put them in rows in a colander. We cover with a suitable diameter plate and, putting a small load, put the colander on the pot or bowl - bitterness will flow into it. After about a quarter of an hour, wash off the remains of salt and bitterness from the vegetable circles, dry them well with a towel. 2. Lubricate the grill of the heated to medium temperature grill with vegetable oil and spread eggplant mugs over it. Bake both sides until a uniform golden color.
3. Carefully place the prepared vegetables on a flat plate and lightly sprinkle with lemon juice. Lubricate the circles with chopped garlic. Sprinkle with chopped greens on top and rub brynza on a large grater.
Grilled eggplants with garlic stuffed of Adygei cheese
Ingredients:
• “Adygei” cheese - 280 gr .;
• four large, not overripe eggplants;
• 20 ml of corn oil;
• fresh dill;
• garlic;
• parsley;
• a glass of thick yogurt without additives.
Preparation:
1. We wash the vegetables, cut them into circles and pour them with salt and place them under pressure for a quarter of an hour. Wash thoroughly and dry.
2. Sprinkle or grease circles with plenty of oil on both sides, and fry until soft on the grill. Turning over, grease the non-fried side with oil.
3. In a bowl on a large grater rub cheese. Press three large garlic teeth into it and add finely chopped dill. Mix well, fill with yogurt.
4. Put a little filling on one circle of cooled eggplant and cover it with another circle. The appetizer formed in this way is laid out on a plate and decorated with parsley leaves.
Marinade for grilled eggplants
In order to add a special note to any dish of grilled eggplant, there is a reason to preserve them in marinade. The recipe of the marinade is universal, it is suitable not only for eggplants, but also for other vegetables, and the snacks made from them will have a special taste.
Ingredients:
• oil - a quarter glass of sunflower and olive;
• two spoons of wine, light vinegar;
• three large spoons of dark soy sauce;
• garlic - two slices;
• one third teaspoon of dried basil or other fragrant herbs.
Preparation:
1. Place the pan on medium heat. Pour into it both kinds of vegetable oil and warm well. Dip crushed garlic in fat and, stirring, fry for a minute. 2. Add basil, pour soy sauce. Bringing to a boil, we add wine vinegar and immediately remove from the stove.
3. Hot marinade pour aubergines prepared for roasting. We stretch the film on the bowl and set aside.
4. Before you put the vegetables on the grill, well wipe the remains of the marinade. Oil eggplant lubricate is no longer required, they are sufficiently absorbed from the marinade.
Grilled Eggplants - cooking tips and useful tips
• To keep the flesh dry and at the same time well grilled, chop the eggplants into slices up to a centimeter thick, with a minimum of half that size.
• Eggplants seasoned in marinade with butter do not require additional processing before grilling.
• If the vegetable was previously frozen, no bitterness needs to be removed from it. It will come out with the water during thawing.
• Eggplant readiness can be easily determined by a puncture with a match - if this happens easily, then the vegetable is ready.
