Herb & Cumin Dressed Eggplant

While I'm a picky meat eater, I absolutely adore vegetables if they're cooked and seasoned well. My favorite veggie has to be eggplant. I know, I've heard it all before- it's slimy, mushy, flavorless- from most of my lovely friends. Clearly, either someone is overcooking it or eating at the wrong restaurants.

Normally, I make eggplant parmesan out of one eggplant and have to stop myself from eating the whole tray in one meal. Layers of thin crispy breadcrumb battered eggplant, basil tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese- mhmm I can't get enough of it! I didn't have any mozzarella cheese in the fridge and I'm trying to eat healthier meals so I opted to make a grilled eggplant salad. I was pleasantly surprised by how well this turned out. The smokiness of the cumin works well with the citrus and strong mint flavor. I served it along with a salad and saved the leftovers for a sandwich.

Herb & Cumin Dressed Eggplant:

1 small eggplant, cut into 1 cm rounds
2 tsp crumbled feta cheese

1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp finely diced red onion
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp cumin powder
a dash of cayenne pepper
pinch of red chili flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp chopped mint
1 tsp chopped cilantro

Grill the eggplant slices until tender (approximately 4 minutes on an indoor George Foreman grill). While eggplant is grilling, combine garlic, red onion, lemon juice, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Add more olive oil,  salt and black pepper to taste. Mix in chopped mint and cilantro and let dressing sit for 5 minutes.
Pour dressing over the grilled eggplant and gently toss to coat each slice. Toss crumbled feta on top of the eggplant.