One of the great vegetarian flavor profiles, to my palate, is the combination of eggplant, portabella mushrooms, goat cheese and fresh basil. This combo is delicious stacked in a timbale, decorating a pizza, served up in layers of buttery phyllo, or tossed in a salad. Tonight I'm using the trio for exceptionally delicious, and exceptionally easy, grilled sandwiches.

Eggplant has an affinity to strong flavors such as goat cheese and portabella. I never salt or peel the sweet and tender Asian eggplant varieties but generally salt black globe eggplant slices. Unless they are fresh off the vine, they can be bitter. Salting helps draw out some of that bitterness and excess water.

A panini press has been a hot item on my "kitchen wish list" for a while. I'm still without. In past dinnerFeeds I've used weights to make a yummy grilled Mozzerella and Tomato Sandwich with Pesto Mayonnaise. Tonight I dusted off the old George Foreman. I grilled my sandwiches 15 minutes at 350Ëš and they were crispy and crusty.

I showed a great deal of restraint in not using butter to grill my sandwiches. If you decide to use butter, so much the sweeter! Sweet roasted peppers would be a great substitute for one of the vegetables; sour dough would also be a marvelous bread.

YIeld: 4 sandwiches Time: 35 minutes Cost: apx. $12.00

Ingredients

1 medium sized globe eggplant (3 1/2-inch width)* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon minced garlic 4 portabella mushrooms, woody stems removed and wiped clean 4 ounces goat cheese, softened 3 tablespoons fresh chopped basil 8 slices whole grain artisan bread

*Thin, tender and sweet Asian eggplants may be substituted though you will need more slices to fill the sandwich. You do not need to salt and peel these eggplant and they will take less time to roast.

Directions

1. With a vegetable peeler, shave most of the skin from the eggplant. Cut into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices on paper towel or clean cloth and lightly sprinkle with kosher salt. Let sit 30-60 minutes .

2. Preheat oven to 375Ëš.

3. Make a vinaigrette by whisking balsamic vinegar into 4 tablespoons olive oil. Stir in garlic and brush vinaigrette over drained eggplant slices and portabella caps.

4. On a foil-lined baking sheet, roast vegetables on middle rack of oven 10 minutes per side, or until just tender.

5. Combine softened goat cheese and basil and spread over one side of each piece of bread. Wipe excess moisture from roasted portabellas, if necessary, and place 1 portabella on 4 slices; divide the remaining eggplant over remaining bread. Make 4 sandwiches by combining a portabella topped bread with an eggplant topped bread.

6.Heat remaining tablespoon olive oil in a large non-stick pan, panini press or forman grill. Grill sandwiches on each side until crispy.