Eggplant Caprese

Sticky Buns win!  T, what are you talking about and what does that have to do with this eggplant dish?  I’ll explain.

Bare with me for one minute as I digress from today’s recipe.  My husband and I have been having a friendly debate as to whether cinnamon rolls are different from sticky buns and if one is better than the other.  We concluded that both are freakin’ amazing (at least as far as his recipes are concerned), but if we had to pick a favorite then he’d pick the sticky bun and I’d pick the cinnamon roll.  What better way to figure it out than to feed them to everyone you know?

My husband made both to bring to our Lake George family vacation this past weekend.  Yes, that meant that there was a lot of cinnamon-y buns going on.  Drum roll please…  Of those who ate both (which was almost everyone), it was unanimous.  The sticky bun is everyone’s favorite.  Like us, they all adore both but I made them choose… for the sake of scientific research.  While we were at it we also cleared up the debate about whether or not the maple glaze only worked on the normal cinnamon rolls or if it was also something people wanted on the sticky buns.  As it turns out, maple glaze is awesome on both, even if the sticky buns already have their own topping.  🙂

I could probably talk about my husband’s cinnamon rolls and sticky buns 24/7, but I’m thinking I need to move on because you’re probably tired of hearing about them.  Plus, all this bun talk has me craving them.  Again.

As much as I’d love to have a Cinnamon Roll every… single… day of my life, I’m thinking my waistline would hate me and even my fat pants would start to object.  I’ll turn to something more healthy instead, like this caprese salad.  Oh, and it’s also much easier and faster to make than cinnamon rolls.

I love a good tomato, mozzarella, basil salad (aka classic caprese salad).  The combo is fabuloso, but I wanted to give it a twist.  Nope, I’m not the first to think this but I wish I was.  I mean how many of you have seen a bazillion renditions of it on Pinterest?  I know I have.  Someone must like variety in their caprese salads or that wouldn’t have

I wanted something quick and a bit more filling so I added eggplant to the party.  Gah, this is so delicious!  The eggplant cooked with a little EVOO, salt, and pepper is a winner.  Simply cooked and simply seasoned eggplant is amazing by itself.  That’s a good place to start when you are looking for something to add to practically any dish.  In this case it makes a salad dish instantly better.

I’m diggin’ this for summertime because of all the fresh produce that is readily available in my area.  If you can find good quality stuff for the holidays then this totally works as a great make-ahead appetizer.  Yes, I already have Christmas on the brain.  (Wait until you see Friday’s post… hint, hint.)  If you’re feeling fancy, take this eggplant caprese and add it to my Olive Salad.  Mmm, it’s double the fun and deliciousness.

Happy hump day!  Is it Friday yet?  I’m still wishing that I was at Lake George, sipping my iced coffee by the pool with my peeps.  Fresh back from the lake, this week feels like it’s going by ultra slowly.

 

Rating:

 

Here are some other sexy salads.

Olive Salad

Summer Barley Salad

Watermelon and Feta Salad