BBQ Grilled Eggplant with a Tang Twist

Have I chosen a favorite eggplant dish yet?  If not, I think THIS is it.  It's amazing in so many ways.  The combination of flavors is surprising and so satisfying.  There's the smoked flavor of barbecue grilled eggplant and the sour-sweet-spiciness of the dressing, a balance of olive oil, pickled capers, olives, and vinegar-soaked onion.  It's so good I don't think the name "Spicy Seared Eggplant" does it justice.  I will therefore call it "BBQ Grilled Eggplant with a Tang Twist." (If you oven- grill, you'll miss out some awesome flavors!)

This is the only time in all the recipes I've done that I've tried salting the eggplant beforehand.  I do surrender, and admit that it did make a difference.  The eggplant was easier to handle on the grill and not so mushy, compared to the eggplant slices I did not salt.  The difference was slight though, and could be sacrificed for the sake of time if need be.  I also used a skewer to make grilling easier.

For the dressing, of course I did some improvisations.  I used red wine vinegar in place of sherry-wine vinegar.  Now I know they're quite different, but I liked how it didn't overwhelm the rest of the flavors.  I also used Kalamata olives in place of Gaeta olives and part of a thinly sliced yellow onion in place of the shallots.  Again, it's not exactly the same, but it's up to you whether the run to the store is worth it.  I thought the onions were excellent in the vinegar.