Grilling Time & New Find

Is anyone else as obsessed with grilling this time of year as me? Well I definitely love to grill and outside of the norm of chicken, fish I am finding new veggie favs on the grill. One of my stand bys is grilled eggplant. For those craving something a bit meaty without it being meat this is a good choice. I like using the Japanese eggplants (bag of 4-5 at Costco or $1 for at Trader Joes). Just slice 1/4 in thick. You can bring the moisture out by "sweating" it out of those purple gems which helps to take the bitterness out. Lay them out on a paper towel sprinkle with a lil sea salt, wait 10 min, dab the moisture off and flip to the other side and repeat the sweating process. Once they are dry brush on a lil olive oil, not much is needed and any herb you like or chop up the herbs such as basil or cilantro and mix in the olive oil. Grill about 7 min on each side. 

Mon grilled eggplant, Tues zucchini and Wed sweet peppers - perfecto

 Another good one for the grill are my new fav rainbow carrots. Starting in March Trader Joes has these  guys bagged up for you. Great look and taste from purple to bright orange and white too carrots. Of course you can get them at your Farmer's Market as well but TJ's is great when you need them now! I just peel them and cut off the end brush with lil olive oil or spray with coconut oil spray and pop onto grill for 7 min each side. Take off grill, slice on diagonal and enjoy. Other tried and true veggies to grill are sweet peppers and zucchini & yellow squash. For the peppers just spray with olive oil spray and grilled about 10 min. For the squash spray also and try sprinkling with lemon pepper and grill 5-7 min. For these smaller items a grill pan is ideal.

Rainbow carrots & new rub from Trader Joes

 I also found this new rub at Trader Joes this week. Its a BBQ rub of coffee & garlic which is great on any meat. I used it on a pork tenderloin but chicken or even large shrimp would good too. I rubbed the tenderloin a few hours before with the rub and refrigerated to let it soak in, I also sliced up some rainbow carrots and purple onion and poured 2 c. of chicken broth in the roasted pan, baked at 350 degrees for 40 min, let the meat rest for 10 min and then sliced and served. My boys loved it! My hubby, who is not a coffee drinker even liked the flavor, just a great combo he said with the meat.