Grilled eggplant with tomatoes and mint

I've gotten to a certain comfort level in the kitchen lately.  And that has to do with seeing a recipe that I like, or having had a meal that I liked, and then kinda figuring out how to do it myself without having to follow a recipe for it.  There are pluses and minuses to that kind of system.  The pluses have to do with with working within that comfort level. The minuses sometimes add up to a final product that is clearly not what the recipe intended.  Which sometimes turns into a plus.  Huh?

photo credit: Smitten Kitchen

From the wonderful folks at Smitten Kitchen, here's a recipe for a bruschetta-style dish that most folks would consider a funky appetizer.  I saw it and immediately thought it would make a nice dinner for Gia, since she is a huge fan of eggplant grilled on the barbecue.  And she is trying to eat healthier, so I thought some eggplant "steaks" topped with this fresh mix seemed appropriate.

So I tucked it away in my memory banks for the next time I did a grocery shopping.

Then I made it tonight.  I didn't re-glance at the recipe, so I had some things off.  I added some diced kalamata olives instead of capers.  Okay. And I also added a diced cucumber that had been peeled and seeded.  And some diced green peppers.  But that's about it.  The rest of it was pretty loyal to the extremely simple recipe.  Fresh and funky.  If you dig eggplant, you may want to give it a go.  Gia loved it, and that's all that mattered to me.

By the way, I don't dig eggplant.  But I had some of the tomato/mint/feta mix as a side salad.  To a great big patty melt.  Because that's how I roll.  Oh yeah!