Grilled Eggplant Provolone

It may feel a little too warm in the kitchen to be cooking up eggplant parmesan but the weather is just right for grilling this wonderful vegetable. This is probably one of the easiest, but equally delicious, recipes for cooking eggplant. Kudos to RealSimple for coming up with this idea. Feel free to swap out the grilled salsa for marina sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 small eggplants, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound deli-style thick-sliced mild provolone
• Grilled Salsa

How to Make It

Step 1

Whisk together the vinegar, oil, and oregano and brush on the cut sides of the eggplants. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Step 2

Preheat a gas grill to high; adjust the heat to medium after 15 minutes. (If cooking over charcoal, allow the coals to burn until they are covered with gray ash.) Grill the eggplants cut-side down until browned, about 5 minutes. Flip the eggplants and top each half with a slice of provolone. Grill 3 minutes more or until the cheese is bubbly. Top with some Grilled Salsa.

Rainy-day method: Prepare the eggplants as described above. Heat the broiler and cook the eggplants about 6 inches from the heat, cut-side down, for 5 minutes. Turn and broil cut-side up for about 3 minutes. Add the provolone and broil about 3 minutes more