Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (2024)

(updated September 24, 2022) // by Phoebe Lapine // 18 comments

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When I got back from Spain last week, all I wanted to eat were vegetables.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I couldn’t get enough of Basque cooking. And for the most part, it was fairly healthy. But I’m pretty sure everyone’s idea of standard vegetable consumption was one or two peppers off of a shared plate of pimientos dipadròn (think shisito peppers…fried).

I also had a good amount of recipe development for Food & Wine on my plate, including savory crepes, 10 ways. This isn’t ordinarily the most veggie-friendly of food vehicles. But after 10 days of fromage and jambon, I couldn’t face eating another 10 plates of the stuff sandwiched inside of a pancake.

So I decided to just do the kind of cooking that I wanted to do, with the veggies that spoke to me at the market, and worry about how they would become part of a crepe recipe later. In case you were wondering, this tuna salad tasted excellent as part of a crepe – kind of a entrée size play on a blini.

One of my favorite resulting combinations was this grilled eggplant recipe, seasoned with sumac, drizzled with bright lemon, capers, and mint, and stacked on top of the buckwheat pancake with a little cloud of mache to seal the deal. You can look for that recipe in the coming months on F&W’s website. But for now, you can try the grilled eggplant solo as a simple summer side dish, or as a creative filling for whatever type of sandwich your culinary whims call to you.

Eat up!

Xo
Phoebe

Grilled Eggplant with Sumac, Capers, and Mint

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Phoebe Lapine

Ingredients

  • 1 large eggplant
  • ½ teaspoon sumac
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
  • 1 tablespoon capers roughly chopped
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Heat a charcoal grill or indoor grill pan to high.

  • Remove the top and bottom of the eggplant and stand it up on a cutting board. Slice the eggplant length-wise and thin as you can.

  • In a small mixing bowl, combine the sumac and olive oil. Brush each piece of eggplant on both sides.

  • Grill the eggplant on both sides, rotating 90 degrees halfway through to get a nice crosshatch, until soft and charred, about 2 minutes per side.

  • Arrange the grilled eggplant on a platter. Add the lemon juice, mint, capers, and salt to the remaining olive oil mixture and stir to combine. Drizzle the eggplant with the caper mixture. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Nutrition

Serving: 4g

Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (9)If you make this, tag @phoebelapine and #feedmephoebe – I’d love to see it!

Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (10)

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Comments

  1. Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (11)Lori Lynn says

    Nice! Great sauce. YAY for SummerFest!
    LL
    P.S. Pinned

    Reply

  2. Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (12)Sunny @ andloveittoo says

    Phoebe,

    These look amazing! We have another batch of egg plant coming this weekend…I do believe I will give these a try. xoxo

    Reply

  3. Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (13)Jeanette says

    I could eat this all summer long Phoebe – lovin that sauce!

    Reply

  4. Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (14)Frankie says

    Those perfect hashtag marks! Those eggplants are tweet-ready!

    Reply

  5. Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (15)Steph says

    mmm I love sumac and eggplant, but never thought to combine them!

    Reply

  6. Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (16)Denise says

    Grilling eggplant is one of my favorite ways of cooking with it, the smoky taste is really perfect. Sumac just makes it even better – I sprinkle if on so many different dishes as well as in salad dressings. Cannot wait to see your crepe piece. We love a good savory crepe.

    Reply

  7. Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (17)Christine says

    Love eggplant like this.

    And a comment about your text colors. It is really, really hard for aging eyes to read. I had to strain to see what you wrote, and even more so with the colors of the replies.

    Reply

    • Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (18)Phoebe Lapine says

      Thanks for letting me know Christine. I’ve gotten that complaint before and already bumped the color up slightly. Will have to readdress this. Hope you’ll still visit! If you turn the brightness up or down on your screen, that might help for now.

      Reply

  8. Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (19)Canal Cook says

    Looks beautiful. I’m also in a veggie phase after coming back from a week of eating pasta and little else.

    Reply

    • Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (20)Phoebe Lapine says

      I hear you! Ate way too much white food this weekend. Back to the eggplant…

      Reply

Grilled Eggplant Recipe with Sumac, Capers, and Mint - Feed Me Phoebe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to cooking eggplant? ›

One of the secrets to cooking tender-but-never-mushy eggplant is salt. First, Stilo cuts her eggplant into the desired shape (rounds, cubes, planks, etc.), and then sprinkles the eggplant evenly with a generous amount of salt.

Should you soak eggplant in salt water before grilling? ›

This technique of soaking sliced or chopped eggplant in salt water is particularly useful when making grilled eggplant. You can brine eggplant for use in any recipe (whether it calls for brining or not) using this method. All you need is salt, water, and a large bowl.

Does eggplant need to be soaked before baking? ›

Soak eggplant slices or cubes in milk for about 30 minutes before cooking. The milk not only tempers the bitterness, but it actually makes for eggplant that is extra creamy, since the vegetable acts like a sponge and soaks up a good amount of milk in its flesh.

How do you keep grilled eggplant from getting soggy? ›

Depending on the recipe, you might want to slice and salt globe eggplant slices before cooking them in order to draw out some of the water and keep them from turning to mush. In On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee writes that because eggplants are filled with tiny air pockets, they function like sponges.

Why do you soak eggplant in water before cooking? ›

I tend to soak the slices in a bowl of water with a couple of tablespoon of salt for about 30-45 minutes. It doesn't have to do with bitterness, but I find that in doing this, the fried eggplant turns out less greasy," Jenkins says.

Do you have to rinse eggplant after salting? ›

Furthermore, adding a good amount of salt will help tenderize the eggplant and keep its shape. Let the eggplant sit: Place the seasoned eggplant over a colander for 30 minutes to an hour. Once beads of moisture start to appear, rinse your eggplant slices under cold water and remove excess salt.

What happens if you don't salt eggplant before cooking? ›

Salting: Salting removes excess liquid and some of the bitterness. Today's eggplants are bred for mildness, though, so it's not as important as it used to be (if you are frying eggplant, salting will ensure a creamy texture and rich flavor). This method works for eggplant slices, cubes, or planks.

Why do you soak eggplant in vinegar? ›

The secret for keeping the purple in eggplants is soaking it in vinegar for 5 minutes. This step is optional as it doesn't affect the taste, but if you are serving guests, soak the eggplant in 6 cups of water and 3 tbsp of vinegar for 5 minutes, and the eggplant will stay nice and purple even after steaming.

Why put salt on eggplant before cooking? ›

Salting eggplant is often explained on two points: The first point contends that eggplants can be quite bitter, and salting helps cut the bitterness. (No, salt doesn't draw out bitterness. It just helps hide it.) Second, salting eggplants reduces the sponginess and leaves you with a creamy, silky texture.

How do you get the most flavor out of eggplant? ›

Here's how to do it:Slice or cube the eggplant as desired. Sprinkle salt over the eggplant pieces and let them sit for about 30 minutes. Rinse the salted eggplant under running water to remove the salt. Pat dry with a clean towel before using in your recipe.

Do you always have to salt eggplant before cooking? ›

Older recipes call for salting eggplant to draw out the bitter juices, but today's eggplants are less bitter (unless very large), so salting is largely unnecessary. It will, however, help the spongy flesh absorb less oil and crisp up like a dream.

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