Grilled Eggplant Rolls

So I didn't actually go outside and grill the eggplant - I just did it under the broiler! I do love grilled veggies, though, so this one will be made again once it's a bit warmer in the evenings! :) Mmmm, I can't wait for grilling season to begin! One of the benefits of living in San Diego - it starts earlier than lots of other places!

I had decided to make DH these yummy chicken breasts that are stuffed with cheeses for dinner tonight so I was glad to see this eggplant dish almost matched! The combination of tangy sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and olives was wonderful with the mild eggplant!

The recipe stated that you can use the stuffing as an appetizer on those little crispy toast things. I bet it would also be awesome on some crusty French or Italian bread or even some toasted rye! Yum! Have to remember that if I ever have the wine-cheese-chocolate party I keep saying I'm going to host. :)

For a non-vegetarian meal, you could use the stuffing on chicken breasts. Pound thin, grill, spread with cheese stuffing, enjoy! Gotta love versatile recipes!

This is enough for 5 - I divided the recipe by 3 since it was just me eating it. I had mine with broccoli and rice.

Ingredients:
Rosemary-Goat Cheese Stuffing
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed or 2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup soft fresh goat cheese (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese
1 tbsp. minced black olives (I actually used kalmata olives)
1 1/2 tbsp. diced sun-dried tomatoes

1-2 medium eggplants sliced lengthwise into 1/4-1/3-inch pieces
Sea salt
Olive oil for brushing eggplant
**I apparently suck at slicing eggplant so I used 1/2 eggplant (it was probably a 1/2 pound eggplant). The recipe says someone with some knife skills could get 15 center slices from 2 eggplants.**

Method:
1. Sprinkle the eggplant slices with sea salt and allow them to drain on paper towels for 1 hour. Rinse the eggplant and pat dry. Brush lightly with olive oil on both sides.

2. To make the stuffing, combine the 1 tsp. olive oil, rosemary, goat cheese, cottage cheese, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes. This can be done up to one day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.

3. Preheat either the grill or broiler. Grill the eggplant until you get some nice grill marks and the vegetable is cooked through (2-4 minutes per side depending how thick you cut it).

4. Spread 1 tbsp. of the stuffing on each slice of eggplant. Roll the eggplant slices starting from the smaller end. Serve warm.

Reference:
I really didn't change much from the original recipe. I just used dried rosemary instead of fresh (just gave it a good crush with the mortar and pestle!) and did not use oil-packed tomatoes which were called for in the original recipe. Mine were just dried and packaged.
The original recipe came from Karen Lee's book The Occasional Vegetarian - Warner Books, 1995.

My grad school teachers would have a heart attack if they saw me doing a reference that looked like that! lol ;)