Grilled Eggplant and Summer Couscous

We're always trying to include variety in our diet so this week I decided to make a grilled eggplant recipe that I found on About.com. I'm not very familiar with eggplant, in fact this was the first time I'd ever had eggplant that wasn't fried! But the recipe sounded tasty so I decided to give it a try. The eggplant was sliced and brushed with a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme, basil, dill and oregano, and then grilled on our George Foreman. The finished result was good, but not quite what I had expected. I think I'll need to do a little more experimenting with this fruit (yes, it's a fruit) before it becomes a favorite.

For those of you who love eggplant already, this recipe is fast and easy. It was also highly rated by the reviewers on About.com. Here's a link to the recipe in case you're interested in trying it out: Grilled Eggplant

Since I was trying new recipes I decided to find a new side dish recipe to serve along with the eggplant. After a lot of browsing I decided on a recipe called Summer Couscous that I found on AllRecipes.com. The recipe combined couscous cooked in chicken broth with minced red onion, sliced green onions, diced cucumber and tomatoes. I wasn't sure how I felt about diced cucumber in a hot dish, but thought I would give it a shot anyway. I was so glad I did! The couscous turned out to be the star of the dinner, much tastier than I had imagined. I will definitely be making it again and would recommend the recipe to anyone. Here's a link to the recipe: Summer Couscous