Preheat grill to high. If using a grill pan, place it over high heat on the stove.
Dry the eggplant by patting with a paper towel.
Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and place on the grill.
Cook until dark grill marks appear, about 5 minutes per side. Remove from heat and set aside.
While the eggplant cools, whisk together ¼ cup of olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a medium size bowl.
Construct the salad by stacking or layering components: eggplant, tomato, mozzarella, eggplant, tomato, mozzarella, eggplant.
Spoon vinaigrette over and around the salad and garnish with basil.
Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
How To Disgorge An Eggplant:
Eggplants are a loaded with water. In order to concentrate their flavor, place eggplant slices on a paper towel and lightly salt them. This will force the eggplant to secrete water while absorbing the salt, known as disgorging. Since there is less moisture in a disgorged eggplant, it won’t end up soggy on the grill! Be sure to implement this neat trick about one hour prior to using the eggplant.
Using a potato peeler, peel carrots into ribbons. For added support while peeling, I used a knife pinning the top of the carrot in place on the cutting board (literally stab the knife thru the top on the carrot, pinning it in place.)
Place the ribbons of carrot in a bowl and toss with remaining ingredients.
