My husband and I took a little road trip this past weekend to visit his parents in New Jersey. We had a tag along.
We couldn’t bring the whole gang so we had to play the oldest card and Frankie and Larry had their own little adventure at doggie camp.
Newton was magnificent, we had never taken him on such a long trip before and wasn’t sure what his reaction was going to be but he had a blast on the road and at my in-laws.
He thoroughly enjoyed the Thomas Edison Rest Stop on the Jersey Turnpike, you know, because they are both men of science and spending the whole trip being spoiled rotten remembering the good old days when he was the only dog and all attention was aimed at him. Ah, the salad days.
Besides having a relaxing time catching up with family and Newton blending into his surrounding, we ate.
Now I ‘m not complaining because we are constantly trying to recreate the food that we love from our New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia days that we just can’t seem to get here on the Cape. So when we revisit them it is a pleasure to indulge, however in our everyday lives we usually only eat one meal a day. We eat plenty but dinner is the only planned actual meal. Going somewhere and sitting down to three full meals everyday and planning the next meal before we even finished the current one can leave one feeling a bit…weighed down.
So when our too short a visit was over, we waddled to the car, said goodbye to the lovely old New Jersey farms and roadside veggie stands and spent eight hours in the car during a downpour dreaming of the salads that we would be eating for the next week to cleanse our systems.
I made this Roasted Eggplant, Tomato and Mozzarella Salad a little while ago and it was fantastic. I ate the whole thing due to my husband’s aversion to tomatoes and eggplant but frankly I was happy not to share it was so good. Roasted eggplant is just so wonderful, I really don’t understand how anyone can not love it. I’m talking to you Adam.
Roasted Eggplant, Tomato, Mozzarella Salad
serves 6 or me!
Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium eggplant cut into 1/4″ slices
Kosher salt and ground pepper
1 lb fresh mozzarella, sliced
1 lb tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar ( I used a bit more)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, brush 2 rimmed baking sheets with 1 tablespoon olive oil each. Arrange eggplants on sheets and brush tops with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake until golden and a bit crisp, about 20-30 minutes. Let cool.
On a platter arrange slices of eggplant, mozzarella and tomatoes. Add basil and some more pepper to taste. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.
Enjoy!
What a face that hitchhiker has!
The Curmudeon! That mug of his lets him get away with murder!