It’s not very often that we’re inspired to grill a bunch of veggies (and bread for that matter) for dinner. Sometimes, however it’s rather necessary when it’s hot and a heavy meal doesn’t seem palatable. It’s also more handy when it’s a busy day and it’s imperative to eat and run while still eating well.

These Tomato-Eggplant Tartines from Good Housekeeping Magazine were the perfect light and quick meal (yes, despite having to light the grill) for a weeknight on the move! They’re reminiscent of simpler open-face tomato and cheese sandwiches with the added benefit of meaty eggplant. There’s a reason eggplant parm is every bit as good as veal or chicken parm.

Somewhere along the way, this simple tomato and cheese sandwich found its way onto the grill alongside slices of eggplant (aka aubergine in some parts of the world). The bread is smudged in spicy, fresh garlic. FRESH garlic. Let’s take a minute to talk about fresh garlic. If you’re using the jarred stuff. Stop. Stop now. Ok, sure, use the rest of the jar if you’re particularly frugal; but don’t ever buy that stuff again. It has practically no flavor and if that doesn’t convince you, here are some other horrifying reasons. Do you really want old, possibly bleached, sometimes phosphoric acidulated garlic in your food?

Once garlic is crushed and/or cooked, a chemical reaction occurs within the garlic to produce that irreverent, spicy aroma we all know and love. The finer you crush it, the greater the reaction, and the more potent the flavor. Pressing fresh garlic into fresh bread will initially be strong, but will lend its delicate essence once exposed to heat. The bread is afterwards blanketed in shredded mozz and topped with summery tomato (we turned it up a notch with heirlooms!) and meaty eggplant.

A clean dusting of salty Parmesan and roughly torn basil top these tartines and make one easy-peasy light weeknight dinner! What kinds of easy and different things do you like to throw on the grill?