True Confessions:
1.  I don't make my bed but I expect my kids to do it.
2. During phone conversations I quite often don't know what to say.
3.  Right now I'm typing away on my keyboard instead of doing the mountain of laundry that I should be doing and I don't feel one ounce of guilt.
4.  I made this dish 16 days ago.

I meant to post this earlier.  I really did.
I just got canning again and then school started as well and you know, I just didn't get to it.
I made it up.  I totally made it right off the top of my head, right.  We had just gotten back from out little jaunt to Quebec City and a friend was coming over for dinner, kinda impromptu.  Our friend is a vegetarian so I needed to get it in gear with the veggies.  After running out to the farmers market that's just down the street from me (Thank God we were home on the day of the market) I came home with some beautiful heirloom tomatoes, gorgeously muddy zucchini, a big ass eggplant and some tempting locally produced smoked mozzarella.


Can we just talk for a second about how awesome it is to be able to walk down the street and find locally grown vegetables, to talk to the people who grew those veggies, to have them recognize you when they see you and then to bring home all of that awesomeness.  Did I mention that I can walk there.  I know, right.
So I guess from there the dish just kind of made itself because there really is nothing else in it.  You could throw in some herbs (which I probably did but I've forgotten by now about).  You should add a little salt.  You could throw in a little pepper sauce too.  Honestly though, once you grill these puppies taste is just kinda taken care of.


I also need to mention here that I'm not a big bbq person.  It just feels like a hassle.  In the spirit of True Confessions, I honestly feel too lazy to take all the crap outside, remove the cover, turn the thing on, cook the crap, haul it back into the kitchen... I won't continue.  I've got to get over it.  We might use the bbq 5 times in a whole year.  I'm not saying it's a good thing but it should give you some perspective on just how out of the ordinary a dish like this is for me.
This turned out beautifully.  It's easy and it's also meant to be tampered with.  Change it up - add grilled peppers, mushrooms, whatever.  Use a different cheese (something that melts nicely - raclette, goat cheese, experiment).  Keep it easy and keep it casual.
My last true confession of this post:  I served this with fried rice... totally weird and random.


Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini Casserole
serves 4

1 large eggplant
2 medium/large zucchini
oil of choice
1 1/2 cups smoked mozzarella, sliced
3 tomatoes sliced about 1/2 inch thick
20 - 25 basil leaves
salt (to sprinkle)
pepper sauce (optional)

Preheat bbq to about 500 degrees F
Slice the eggplant and the zucchini into about 3/4 inch thick slices.  Brush with oil of choice (I think I see safflower because it was in the cupboard but olive would work well here).
Place each slice on the grill, turning only once it's got some nice char marks on it (and it should be a little soft too).  Once each side is char-marked and easily bendable, remove from grill and turn off the bbq.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place a layer of eggplant on the bottom of an oval, tall sided baking dish.  Add a layer of tomato, then a layer of mozzarella.  Sprinkle with a little bit of salt and a layer of basil leaves on top of each layer of tomato.  Repeat each layer until everything is used up.  Use the mozzarella as the top layer.
Bake for between 25 and 30 minutes or until the sides are just a little golden, it's bubbling and the cheese is melted and browning.
Cut with a knife to serve.