Grilled Eggplant & Fresh Tomato Salad

Another fabulous summer veggie recipe for you! The name Grilled Eggplant & Fresh Tomato Salad does not quite do this recipe justice, but it looked a bit excessive to write Grilled Eggplant, Fresh Cherry Tomato, Feta, Balsamic and Mint Salad. That's what this salad is: those five ingredients tossed together create an exceptionally flavorful and fresh summer side dish. This is a perfect recipe to try if you are already planning to grill. The eggplant only grills for a few minutes on each side, so it can easily share the flame with your other grillables.

Baked Figs

I LOVE figs.  I was overjoyed to see beautiful baskets of the dark black/purple Mission fig at the farmers' market this past weekend.  Fig recipes are piling high on my coffee table: ice cream, figs stuffed with various treats (see a bonus idea for this, below), salads, pizzas... but today's recipe is nearly as simple as just popping them in your mouth:  Figs topped with a lovely balsamic vinegar and the flavourful (but not too strong) Manchego sheep's milk cheese, baked briefly and eaten warm.  Heavenly.