Grilled veggies had yet to make an appearance this spring and I thought this would be the perfect way to re-introduce them into my meals! The recipe inspiration came from Giada. It is a bit time consuming (at least when grilling vegetables with a miniature grill) but so worth it. The vegetables are tender-crisp and the flavor from peppers, onions, fennel and eggplant are perfect with fire-roasted tomato sauce. Serve with crusty bread and some red wine.

Vegetable Parmesan - 4 servings adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

• 1 red pepper, sliced into 4 pieces
• 1 eggplant, sliced into 1/2″ thick slices
• 1 red onion, sliced into 1/2″ thick slices
• 1 large fennel bulb, sliced into 1/2″ thick slices
• jar of fire roasted tomato sauce
• 1/4 lb. sheeps milk pecorino romano, shredded
• 1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
• basil and red pepper flakes for garnish

Pre-heat oven to 400° F. Heat grill and mist all veggies with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill eggplant for about 3 minutes per side and set aside. Repeat with all vegetables. Cut pepper into strips after grilling. Pour 1/2 cup sauce on bottom of a 9×13 pan. Spread out with a spoon. Layer on eggplant, more sauce and a little cheese. Repeat with remaining vegetables, sauce and cheese. (Essentially making a lasagna) Top with 1/2 cup bread crumbs and bake for about 25-30 minutes until cheese has melted and sauce is bubbly.

Don’t forget about the tea give-away!

I don’t talk about tea a lot on the blog, but trust me when I say that tea is a huge part of my life. I drink tea everyday, throughout the day – mostly green and herbal but I have also been known to enjoy chai tea lattes on occasion. I drink tea to stay warm in the winter, to signal the end of a meal, as an afternoon pick-me up, for antioxidants and because sometimes I need something to help with an upset tummy, too much stress or to help me sleep at night.

And as much as I love tea, I know you all do to! Celestial Seasonings has offered one of my readers a major tea package:

• 4 wellness teas to ease cold and flu symptoms
• 2 green teas to support a healthy immune system
• a mug, lip balm, honey sticks, Sleepytime bear and the book “Herbs for Health & Happiness” by Celestial Seasonings founder Mo Siegel and Nancy Burke

Obviously I love their  sugar cookie sleigh ride, but also recently tried their am detox and after a night out, complete with wine and fries, and I felt a bit detoxified – it could have been the placebo effect, it could have worked, but whatever the reasoning, I’ll continue using it. Read up on some of the health benefits of tea here.

How to win:

• leave a comment with your favorite tea
• tweet about the give-away @nutritionisteat (leave a comment so an additional entry is given)
• post the give-away on your blog (leave comment so an additional entry is given)

I’ll choose the winner via random number integer on Sunday April 4th. Good luck and happy sipping!

Edited to add:

And the winner is….# 14.