Grilled Eggplant with Tomato and Feta

I was looking for something new to try on our New Recipe Tuesday and this is what I landed on! I initially thought no way that is going to fill Nate and I up, I mean it is just vegetables!  But I am hear to tell you it did! The two of us (yes, we had an empty house) ate large servings last night, probably a little too much, and then I ate a nice size serving for lunch today. So, I would call it 4 servings. But anyway....YUMMY!!! And great for you. The only fat is from olive oil and feta, the EVOO of course being good fat and you can typically find feta in reduced fat, so opt for that when available. We will be having this again!!!

It does call for fresh basil, please do use fresh not dried. It makes a big difference!  You can buy a basil plant for about $3 and then you will have it whenever you need it, which is about 3 times a week at our house!

Ingredients
1 large eggplant
3 large tomatoes
6 oz. reduced fat feta
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
juice from half lemon
2 garlic cloves
1/4-1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cut eggplant crosswise into 1/2" thick rounds.  Lightly season them with salt and lay flat on a paper towel for 30 minutes to let water come out of the eggplant.
2. While those are sitting, blend basil leaves, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, lemon juice and 1 tsp of salt in immersion blender or mini food processor.
3. Cut tomatoes crosswise to 1/4" thick rounds.
4. Once eggplant is done drying, spray with olive oil spray (or drizzle with EVOO or spray non-stick spray). Grill them on lightly oiled or sprayed grill rack for 2-3 minutes on each side.  I used my panini grill or George Foreman type grill and it only took 2-3 minutes total, but a few batches since it is small.
5. Once eggplant is grilled, you can start layering in a sprayed/oiled casserole dish or baking pan. I used a 9x13 dish and layered as follows, but if your eggplant was smaller you may have to leave off a layer.

                  Grilled Eggplant Round
                  Brush/Spread on basil-garlic mixture
                  Sprinkle on Feta
                  Tomato Ring
                  Eggplant
                  Basil Spread
                  Feta
                  Tomato
                  Eggplant
                  Basil Spread
                  Feta
                  Tomato
                  Feta

     6.  Drizzle with olive oil to keep the cheese from burning and then bake at 400F for 15 minutes.

ENJOY!!!

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