Shelli McConnell
Shelli McConnell graduated with a bachelor of science in consumer food science and a minor in journalism from Iowa State University. She began her career as a home economist in the Better Homes & Gardens test kitchen before moving into an editorial position within DotDash Meredith. She has since freelanced for 25 years and has served as an editorial project manager for many books and magazines, including three editions of the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book. She has also developed thousands of recipes for publications including Forks Over Knives magazine; Eat This, Not That!; Diabetic Living; Better Homes & Gardens; The Magnolia Journal; and more. McConnell loves to entertain and inspire, so when she’s not in her office, she’s usually in her kitchen. Find her on LinkedIn.
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Comments (5)
Love this recipe! Will make double of the vinaigrette next time. Cut the eggplant a little thicker…not crazy thick but not thin sliced. I didn’t let it cool…I like warm eggplant so took the eggplant off the grill then kept it warm…then added vinaigrette to the warm eggplant then a dollop of white bean hummus.
This was easy to make but the garlic was very strong and the dressing in general was very acidic…maybe grilling after marinating would have helped. White bean hummus was very good.
So this is served cold? Cooked, marinated 30 minutes then served? Or is this another “left something out of the recipe”?
Ken, it looks like it is served cold, since the other platter ingredients are cold. That said, they are quite tasty warm as well! I just made the steaks, and of course had to do a taste test as soon as they had marinated a bit. It reminds me so much of eating steamed artichoke hearts with a good Dijon vinaigrette, a childhood favorite! The texture is very soft, so while it looks like a steak, you really just want to pick it up and take a bite out of it. I’m giving this four stars because it’s not very steak-like, but it is good. We’ll see tomorrow what the omnivores think of it. I should note that I left out the fresh herbs, because I didn’t want that flavor today, and I don’t think that it really impacted the recipe at all. I like that the recipe makes just enough marinade for your eggplants, and there’s not a bunch left over.
I only made the eggplant steaks. They came out decent. My omnivores liked them. I really like the idea of the platter. I’m looking forward to putting it all together for the a backyard BBQ.