Rachael/Rita's Cheesy Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches Recipe...

First, lol, I won't apologize for using paper plates! It is over 100 degrees in Alabama and OMGosh nobody wants to worry about dishes especially if you are cooking or grilling! =) This week, we are cooking Rachael Ray, revisiting some of the recipes in my summer 2008 magazines and this one is just as the others, fabulous!! It is the Cheesy Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches and Jerry and I added our own twist to them plus put a lettuce wedge on the side to complete this meal. There was plenty for the guys to take them for lunch on Monday as well...This is from the August 2008 Rachael Ray magazine insert for Wednesday. I love eggplant and because of recipes like this, my family loves vegetables as well! A great meal, so let's get started...

Ingredients:
1 pound eggplant, trimmed and thinly sliced, lengthwise (I peeled, sliced instead, placed in salted ice water until they were ready to be used to keep them from turning dark)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
10 ounces or 2 1/2 cups jarisberg cheese, shredded (I used swiss cheese since I couldn't get this cheese)
One 4-ounce package thinly sliced prosciutto (I used honey backed deli ham since I couldn't get prosciutto)

Instructions:
1. Preheat a grill to medium. In a large bowl, toss the eggplant slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning once, until softened, about 4 minutes. (I use a large ziplock for this, saves mess and cleanup.)
2. Lay the bread on a work surface. Top 4 slices with a layer each of cheese, proscuitto, eggplant and another layer or proscuitto and cheese. Top with the remaining bread slices. (Ok, I did this totally differently because we are cheese lovers and I wanted cheese touching every element of the sandwich...so this is how I did it...slice of bread, cheese, ham slice, cheese, eggplant slice, cheese, ham slice, cheese, bread slice. It wasn't messy or too cheesy, besides, is there a such thing? lol)
3. Brush the outside of the sandwiches with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Grill, covered, turning once, until crisp, about 2 minutes.
4. Then we added lettuce wedges with ranch dressing and tomato slices...umy!!!

Enjoy...Love, Blessings & {{{Hugs}}},
Rita
www.RitaHutchesonCobbs.com