Grilled Eggplant in Pomegranate Dressing AND an Eggplant tasting!!

Last night, I made an awesome eggplant dish: Grilled Eggplant with Pomegranate Molasses. YUM!! I must say that after a long week of massive cakes due, I had no desire to even step foot into the kitchen. And that's the truth. (Therefore, I have no pictures of the final product...sorry!) My mom was able to convince me to trudge into the kitchen to help her with supper, putting me in charge of beets and eggplant. I decided to start with the eggplant because the beets wouldn't take that long to do. (AND, I had already forgotten that I had to fix them!!!)

We had 4 different kinds of eggplant: Black Beauty (regular), Rosa Bianca, Japanese, and White. My mom wanted us to have a little side-tasting of each kind to find out what we liked the most, so after I grilled everything, we tried them before I mixed everything into the pomegranate dressing. Surprisingly, our favorite was WHITE! I say surprisingly because the last time we had a white eggplant we thought it was disgusting! I'm happy to report that this one was woooonderful! Our second place was the Rosa Bianca (it has a light purple skin), third was Japanese, and fourth was Black Beauty. Compared to all of the others, the Black Beauty (which is the traditional eggplant that you will find in the grocery store) had very little taste! From now on, I'm hoping that we can use White and Rosa Bianca eggplants!

Anyway, once we were finished with our tasting, I mixed all 4 kinds together and poured on the dressing. Oh. My. Goodness.! I think that this is one of the best ways to enjoy eggplant! It's a simple, "plain" (I use that word lightly here) dish where the flavors of the eggplant really stand out! We loved it, and I hope that you do too! :)

Happy eating,

~HB~
 Grilled Eggplant in Pomegranate Dressing

3 Eggplants, cut into 3/4 inch thick wedges
1-1/3 C. Olive Oil
3 tsp. Coarse Salt
3 T. Pomegranate Molasses
1/3 C. Lemon Juice
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/3 C. Fresh Mint, shredded 
1/4 tsp. Ground Pepper 

Preheat grill to medium-low (or light your grill!). Brush eggplant wedges on all sides with 2/3 cup oil and season with 1 tsp. salt.
Place eggplant on grill rack in a single layer. Cook, turning occasionally, until softened and lightly charred (about 8 minutes total). 
Meanwhile, whisk together molasses, lemon juice, garlic, mint, remaining 2 tsp. salt, pepper, and remaining 2/3 cup oil. Add warm eggplant and toss. Enjoy!