Seester's Home!

Happy Friday y'all!

Baby Seester is home from north of these here parts. Unfortunately, she is only here for two days, but hey, I will take what I can get, right? She rolled in yesterday afternoon and I knew she would be hungry. Seriously, I really don't know how she is not 300 pounds...she eats everything in sight. Of course, it's not a donut or anything, but hey, the girl can eat. That's a good thing, though. 

Anyway, I had a ton of veggies waiting for her when she arrived and she ate them right up. One of her fave veggies is eggplant, and wouldn't you know? Eggplant makes the top 5 on my veggie list! Hey, I'm Italian, I have the melanzana running through my veins for sure! Long story short is I was getting the hankering for some roasted eggplant. I don't really dwell on things for too long, so 

BOOM!

Then I upped the ante by roasting these tiny orange tomatoes.

 

That took the dish to a whole notha' level.

Like, and ALL CAPS WORTHY WHOLE NOTHA' LEVEL. 

Then, because you can't have tomatoes without 

 basil...oh no I didn't. 

Simply delicious.

Roasted Tomato Basil Eggplant Steaks (GF/V):

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants (cut the top and bottom off of each eggplant, stand the eggplant up on a cutting board, and slice the eggplant lengthwise, into 1-inch thick slices)

8 oz. package of sweet orange champagne tomatoes (you could substitute cherry tomatoes or pear tomatoes), sliced in half lengthwise

extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 c. of basil, cut into long, thin, strips

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Place the eggplant slices on one of the prepared baking sheets, drizzle each side of the eggplant with about 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Season each side of the eggplant with a pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Place the tomatoes on the remaining baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons of evoo and a pinch of salt and pepper.

4. Bake the eggplant for about 45 minutes, turning them over half-way through the baking process to roast each side.

5. Bake the tomatoes for 30 minutes, or until slightly golden and bubbly.

6. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the roasted tomatoes on each slice of eggplant. Top each slice with a bit of fresh basil. 

Makes about 8 eggplant steaks. 

MANGIA!!!