Escalivada, baby!

 Roasted eggplant and onions

A few days ago my sweet friend Mimi from French Kitchen in America posted this recipe and I could not wait to try it. It is a simple gathering of roasted eggplant, sweet onions, tomatoes, and red peppers you can eat right off the plate or use a a topping for crusty bread.

 Roasted veggies with anchovies and lemon

I spent some time surfing the internet and came up with several variations that I was anxious to mess with.

You know...put my own touch on it!

 Test run

I roasted the veggies yesterday and gave it a try.

A test run, if you will.

Plus...Pete was not going to be home for supper, and I really, really wanted to taste this!

My plan was to tweak it a bit more, then bring all the fixin's to a good friend today and have it for our lunch.

I knew I wanted more protein than just a few bits of anchovies, so I threw a can of Italian tuna in olive oil in the bag.

Parsley for color (cause eggplant is just plain ol' ugly), and lemon for brightness.

Ooh....and after toasting the baguette, I took a clove of raw garlic and rubbed it all over the top, letting the craggy crust catch the garlic and infuse it with incredible flavor.

Cause me and garlic are like this....(picture two of my fingers crossed)

I also drizzled some good olive oil over the whole thing, and topped with some nice crunchy sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

 Escalivada!

Served with a fresh salad and a yogurt/berry/honey parfait.

The tuna was a great addition, making it a complete meal.

The veggies were room temperature which was just right on this near 90 degree afternoon.

 It was a perfect lunch on a perfect day.

Dar and me

(or is that me and Dar?)

(or Dar and I?) 

Gah!

I can count on one hand the close friends I have.

Dar is one of them.

We have known each other for over 32 years.

She has been with me thru thick and thin.

She is one of the few folks who really, really know me.

And that ain't always pretty.

But she loves me anyways.

And I love her.

In Christ alone,

Cindy

There really is no recipe, per se.....you can look it up and just wing it like I did! (But Mimi shares a link on her blog)