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.
