L ifestyle /C ulture
Holding on to Summer Supper
F OO D
KERI WHITE | JE FOOD COLUMNIST
AS SOMEONE WHO loves
summer, I hang onto it for as
long as I can. In our area, the
warm weather lasts pretty far
into September and October
so, food-wise, that means a lot
of grilling, keeping it light and
using local, seasonal ingredi-
ents as much as possible.

This menu showcases
precisely that.

The fish I used here is
mahi-mahi, but any grill-
friendly fish (salmon, halibut,
grouper, snapper, etc.) would
work just fine. The eggplant
is a tad more involved, but
since the marinade becomes
a spectacular sauce when
reduced, it does double duty.

We served this with a simple
green salad strewn with some
late-summer tomatoes and
cucumbers and a few ears of
grilled corn on the cob doused
in salt, pepper, oil and cayenne.

For dessert? We opted for
lime-spritzed watermelon
slices, but vanilla ice cream
with sliced fresh peaches or a
blueberry tart would certainly
end this meal nicely and would
evoke the season.

See what I mean about
holding onto summer?
SPICE-COATED MAHI-MAHI
Serves 4
I used a jarred Tunisian
coriander spice blend that I
bought from a local vendor
at a farmers market, but any
spice blend that you like
works here — Lowry’s, Jane’s
Crazy Mixed-up Salt, Old Bay,
Shichimi Togarashi, Chinese
five-spice, curry powder,
za’atar, etc. Just be sure to
check the salt content — the
blend I used did not contain
salt, so I added it, but that is
often not the case.

4 mahi-mahi fillets
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons your favorite
spice blend
Salt to taste, if needed
In a shallow dish or pie
plate that holds all the fillets
in a single layer, mix the lemon
juice and olive oil. Sprinkle
both sides of the fillets gener-
ously with the spice blend and
salt, if using; they should be
well coated.

On a hot grill, cook the
fillets for about 3 minutes
per side until done; do not
overcook it or the fish will dry
out. This guideline is based on
½- to ¾-inch-thick fillets and
should be adjusted up or down
per the thickness. Remove the
fish from the grill, and serve
immediately. Miso-glazed grilled eggplant
2 pounds eggplant
Kosher salt for draining
Marinade 2 tablespoons white miso
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
½ cup water (or more
if needed to coat all
eggplant slices)
MISO-GLAZED GRILLED
EGGPLANT Serves 4
I adore eggplant — every single
type. For this dish, I chose
a variety from the farmers
market, and one was better
than the next. The leftovers
were great the next day!
Photo by Keri White
eggplant to “sweat” and drain
for about 30 minutes.

While the eggplant drains,
make the marinade by mixing
all the ingredients together and
whisking them with a fork.

Rinse the eggplant, pat
it dry and place it in a large
zip-seal bag with the marinade.

Shake it around to ensure that
all slices are coated. Allow it to
marinate at room temperature
for about an hour. Reserve the
marinade when you grill the
eggplant. Heat a grill to medium-hot,
and cook the eggplant slices,
about 4-5 minutes per side —
you may wish to move them
to an area with less intense
heat in the latter portion of
cooking to avoid charring or if
additional cooking is needed,
but a little char adds flavor and
texture. Remove the eggplant from
the grill when done and place
it in a shallow dish or a platter
with a rim to capture the sauce.

Make the sauce: To reduce
the marinade, heat it in a
saucepan over medium-high
heat and allow it to boil uncov-
ered for about 6 minutes. It
should be reduced by at least
two-thirds and should be
thickened to the texture of a
sauce or gravy.

Pour this over the plated
eggplant, garnish it with
cilantro or parsley, if desired,
and serve. l
Slice the eggplant, skin on,
into ¼-inch slices. Place the
slices in a colander, and salt
them well. Leave the colander
in the sink, and allow the
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