It had been a while since I fired up the barbie (BBQ) at my place. But the other day, I had an overwhelming desire to sink my teeth into a juicy char-grilled steak. Sure, it took a while to set it up, and get the coals burning red hot…but it was well worth it.

So…what is so special about char-grilling you food? I think it’s the combination of the flavours you get when a little speck of your food is burnt (bitter) combined with a large portion which is caramelised (sweet), and a wonderful smokiness which enhances all the flavours. When you factor in the overall juiciness of the food…all you can say is Yum!

Given the effort required to get everything up-and-going, I like get the most out of my red-hot-coals. Seriously, those things can burn steadily for several hours, and if you’re organised, you can have a couple of meals on the go at one time.

So, along with some lovely grass fed beef steak, I decided to cook some eggplant (aubergine), capsicum and potatoes. The eggplant and and capsicum I threw directly onto the grill, turning them every 5 minutes or so, until they were charred all over. The potatoes were cut into chunks, wrapped in foil and left to cook slowly for about 20 minutes. Using these simple ingredients, I made two dips and roasted potato salad for the next day’s lunch. Too easy.

 

Here is the recipe for the Eggplant Dip…

You will need:

1 large eggplant, char grilled or baked in the oven*

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 small clove garlic, crushed

juice of 1/2 lemon

fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, chives

salt

Tip: If you are baking the eggplant, be sure to pierce the skin before hand

Remove the skin and stem from the eggplant. Process all of the ingredients until they are nicely chopped, or completely smooth, depending on your preference.

Adjust the flavours by adding balsamic or salt as required.

Serve with crackers, crudities etc.

 

Keep posted for more BBQ’d vegetable recipes.