Recipes Ingredients Vegetables Eggplant Recipes Grilled Eggplant With Tomatoes, Basil, and Feta 5.0 (1) This light, plant-based main course celebrates the best of summer produce. Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 10 mins Total Time: 1 hr Servings: 2 to 4 Jump to recipe Our grilled eggplant with tomatoes, basil, and feta tastes like summer and is a cinch to prepare. Cutting the eggplant lengthwise into long planks means there’s less to flip and monitor on the grill. Salting and draining it, meanwhile, removes excess moisture, so it cooks up creamy and tender instead of spongy and soft. It’ll need about 30 minutes to drain, during which time you can toast the pine nuts and slice some small tomatoes. Grill the eggplant until charred and tender, then toss together the simple topping, which also features briny feta and fresh, fragrant basil. Serve it as a starter, a meatless main course for two, or as a side dish alongside grilled chicken, steak, or lamb. 21 Delicious Eggplant Recipes to Enjoy All Year Long Credit: Jake Sternquist How to Buy, Store, and Prep Eggplant When shopping, choose a smooth, shiny eggplant that feels heavy for its size. Avoid any with soft spots, dents, or blemishes. Eggplant can be stored at room temperature in a cool location for up to 2 days, but should be refrigerated for longer storage. If refrigerating, wrap each eggplant in plastic wrap and store it in the crisper drawer (where the humidity is higher) or on the upper shelf (where it tends to be a bit warmer). Prepping Eggplant for This Recipe Rather than cut the eggplant into rounds, we prefer to slice it into long planks for this recipe, so there's less to turn on the grill. There's no need to peel the eggplant before slicing, but if the skin on yours feels especially tough, feel free to remove it first. Why Salt Eggplant Before Cooking? Generously salting eggplant and letting it drain is an easy way to improve its texture. After just 30 minutes, the salt will draw out the excess liquid that can make cooked eggplant mushy or spongy, so it cooks up silky and creamy. The salt, additionally, has a chance to penetrate deeper into the eggplant rather than just seasoning the outside. Directions Credit: Jake Sternquist Salt eggplant and let stand: Generously season eggplant slices with salt. Place vertically in a colander, overlapping them. Let stand 30 minutes; rinse and pat dry. Credit: Jake Sternquist Preheat grill; brush eggplant with oil: Preheat grill to medium-high. Liberally brush cut sides of eggplant with oil. Grill, turning once, until tender, about 4 minutes per side. Credit: Jake Sternquist Mix tomatoes, nuts, red pepper and oil; spoon over eggplant: Combine tomatoes, pine nuts, feta, red-pepper flakes, and oil; season with salt. Spoon over eggplant; top with basil. Credit: Jake Sternquist How to Store and Reheat Leftover Grilled Eggplant Leftover grilled eggplant can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Eat it at room temperature or reheat it in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven until the eggplant is heated through. Easy Recipes for Serving Alongside If you're serving this recipe as a main course, consider rounding things out with a simple starch like herbed orzo as well as a salad—this zucchini and squash salad or an extra-summery melon-cucumber salad, perhaps? This eggplant dish can also be served in smaller portions as an appetizer or side dish. Since you're already grilling, keep the grates hot and toss on some marinated chicken thighs or spice-rubbed lamb loins. 5 More Vegetarian Grilling Recipes to Try Grilled Cauliflower With Spiced Yogurt Grilled Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers Grilled-Eggplant Parmesan Grilled Halloumi-and-Vegetable Wraps Grilled Pepper and Red Onion Pizzas Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.