Last Saturday's farmer's market adventure led me to buy items I don't usually purchase. I love eggplant but haven't ventured too far out with all the different varieties. So when my hubby, JC, put these long, white beauties in our basket I knew I needed to come up with a fresh plan. They look like the albino version of a Japanese eggplant. Having never cooked these before I figured grilling them might be the way to go. From there, it might have been the bright whiteness of these that reminded me of those stucco houses in Greece that sparked the inspiration to create a Greek style appetizer. With that in mind, feta and herbs seemed like the next logical step.
The gathering of my thought process in visual form
Kids, I'm going to keep this one super simple.
Ingredients
5-7 White eggplant
8-10 cherry tomatoes
Feta 'Cream'
1/3 c feta cheese (I used French)
1/8 t red pepper flakes
¼ t oregano
1 T olive oil
2 t fresh lemon juice
1 t crushed garlic
pinch of salt & black pepper
2 t parsley, chopped for garnish
Instructions
Slice the eggplants lengthwise in half. Rub with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Do the same with the tomatoes.
Grill them on both sides until tender. Add the cherry tomatoes to the grill, to give them a nice warm through and slightly grilled. Assemble both on a plate.
In a mini blender, add feta cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, oil, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and blend up until you get a chunky cream. That's right, garlic, black pepper AND red pepper flakes. Oh, did I forget to mention that these would have a spicy kick? Why not, hot.
Smear the feta 'cream' over the top of the grilled eggplant while they are still warm. Garnish it with some chopped parsley. You could even try mint, as I think that herb would also be great with these flavors. If you are a cheese junky, go ahead and crumble some more feta on top. This app is bright with a kick. I have to say, I was tickled pink with this creation (or should I say, tickled WHITE). At first, I had no idea what I would do with these and now I can say this is on my favorite's list to serve to our guests for any occasion. Truly simple entertaining, elegant and chock full of flavor.
