Sausage and Eggplant - On the Grill!

Sausage and Eggplant - On the Grill!

1-2 eggplants, sliced crosswise 1/2 in thick

2 tblsp melted cooking fat

1/2 tblsp fresh thyme

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/8 tsp salt

6-9 assorted sausages

Heat grill to medium-high. Brush eggplant slices on both sides with the cooking fat. Place in a bowl or shallow baking dish. Add the thyme, pepper, and salt. Toss.

Place eggplant slices on hot grill (or in grill basket). Grill until golden crust forms on the first side, 7-8 minutes. Turn and grill on second side, 6-7 minutes more. Transfer to platter and keep warm.

Arrange sausages on the grill. Grill, turning often, until the juices run clear when the sausages are pierced with a knife, 10-15 minutes. Remove sausages from the grill and arrange on one or more platters with the eggplant slices. Serve.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Thought you could never have a velvety, creamy, smooth tomato soup after giving up dairy? Think again! The other vegetables help give this soup the creamy goodness we have come to know and love from tomato soups without any of that pesky dairy.

Roasted Creamy Tomato Soup

2 onions, roughly chopped

3 carrots, roughly diced

2 stalks of celery, roughly diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled

6 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped

1/4 cooking fat, melted (we used lard)

3+ c chicken stock

3 tblsp fresh herbs of choice (we used basil, marjoram, and thyme) minced

Preheat oven to 400F. On a baking sheet, add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and tomatoes. Drizzle with melted cooking fat and salt and pepper to taste. Roast the vegetables in the oven until the carrots are tender, about 25 minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting, add the herbs to the stock in a large pot and simmer.

Once vegetables are done roasting, puree using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender adding in the stock. Depending on how think you like your soup you may need more stock to thin it out. You can either serve it now or let it simmer a little longer to get the herbs infusing with the blended vegetables.

Grilled Ratatouille

I am going to try and get all the recipes from Facebook moved over here. I will do as many as I can tonight. After all the recipes are moved, I will share why I do Paleo!

Grilled Ratatouille

2 small eggplants (1/2 lb each), cut into 1/4 in slices

salt

1 large sweet onion, peeled and soaked for 30 minutes

1 large green bell pepper

1 large red bell pepper

2 tomatoes, halved

1/4 c cooking fat, melted

2 yellow squashes, cut lengthwise into 1/4 in slices

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tblsp fresh dill, chopped

Sprinkle eggplant slices with salt and place in a colander. Let it stand for 30 min to draw out some of the liquid.

If using a coal grill, put the onion directly into the coals. If not, then just place in in direct heat. Cook until easily pierced with a sharp knife, about 30 min. Remove the onion from coals/heat and let it cool.

Brush the eggplant slices, (whole) peppers, and tomatoes with the melted fat. Place the eggplant around the edge of the heat and the peppers and tomatoes (cut sides down) in the center, on the heat. Cover the grill. Cook, turning occasionally, until eggplant and tomatoes are tender (about 10 min) and the peppers are charred on all sides (about 25 min). Transfer vegetables to a cutting board. Drape the peppers in a foil tent for 10 min then peel the skin off. Remove the stems, seeds, and ribs, then cut into 1/4 in strips.

Brush squash slices with cooking fat. While other vegetables are cooling, grill the squash, turning once, until tender. About 10 min. total.

Peel the onion and cut in half. Then cut in 1/4 in slices. Transfer to a large bowl. Roughly chop the tomatoes and squash; cut the eggplant into strips. Add into the bowl with the peppers. Add about 3 tblsp melted cooking fat (I suppose olive oil could work here) and the garlic, thyme, salt, and red pepper flakes. Toss to mix. Sprinkle with chopped dill.