Grilled Italian Vegetable Napoleons with Basil Oil — What I’ll Make When I Can Finally Cook Again

Fourth of July. America celebrates its birthday. I celebrate that Anaya slept for three consecutive hours last night, which feels like a comparable achievement. We didn't go to the community potluck this year — the idea of taking a ten-day-old baby into a crowd of people with sparklers seems inadvisable. Instead, Amma and Appa came over, and Arvind drove up from Trenton, and we had a small indoor celebration with the A/C cranked and the blinds drawn and Anaya sleeping through all of it in her bassinet. Amma cooked at our apartment — her first time fully taking over my kitchen, and she did it with the proprietary confidence of a woman reclaiming territory. She made chicken biryani on my stove with my pots and the result was better than anything I've ever produced in that kitchen, which is both humbling and infuriating. "Your burner runs hot," she said, adjusting my stove as if she owned it. "You should cook on medium, not medium-high." She's right. My burner does run hot. I've been overcooking everything for two years because I didn't know this. My mother used my stove for one hour and diagnosed the problem I've been ignoring since 2016. Arvind held Anaya for the first time. He's good with her — gentle, natural, the wild brother who is surprisingly tender with tiny things. He held her in the crook of his arm and she grabbed his finger and he looked at me with an expression I've never seen on his face before — pure, uncomplicated softness. "She looks like you, Akka," he said. "She looks like Anaya." "Same thing." Appa held her too. Carefully, formally, the way he does everything — as if the baby were a legal document requiring proper handling. He sat in the rocking chair with Anaya on his chest and said nothing for twenty minutes. Just sat. Just held her. Just breathed. This is Appa's love language: silent presence. The same way he's loved me for thirty-one years. The same way he'll love her. I didn't cook. I'm not cooking yet. The freezer and Amma are keeping us alive. My body is healing. My nipples are adapting. My heart is expanding in ways I didn't know hearts could expand. Fireworks outside, distant and muffled. Anaya slept through them. Appa held her. Amma's biryani was better than mine. Happy birthday, America. Happy tenth day, Anaya.

Amma isn’t always going to be here to take over my kitchen — and honestly, given that she diagnosed a stove problem I’d been ignoring for two years in under an hour, I think I owe it to myself to cook more attentively when she’s not. I’m not there yet. But when I am, when the fog lifts and Anaya is a few weeks older and I feel like a person who makes dinner again, this is the kind of dish I want to come back to: grilled vegetables stacked tall and fragrant with basil oil, the sort of thing you’d bring to a table full of people you love on a warm night. It’s the food of a person who has gotten some sleep. I’m filing it away for when I become her again.

Grilled Italian Vegetable Napoleons with Basil Oil

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/4-inch planks
• 2 large red bell peppers, quartered and seeded
• 2 large beefsteak tomatoes, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 8 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons balsamic glaze, for drizzling
• For the basil oil:
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Make the basil oil. Combine basil leaves, olive oil, garlic, salt, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and vibrantly green, about 45 seconds. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve if you prefer a cleaner oil, or use as-is for more texture. Set aside.
2. Prep the vegetables. Brush eggplant, zucchini, and bell pepper pieces with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season all sides with 3/4 teaspoon salt and the black pepper. Brush tomato slices lightly with the remaining olive oil and season with remaining salt.
3. Grill the vegetables. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill eggplant rounds 4—5 minutes per side until tender with distinct grill marks. Grill zucchini planks 2—3 minutes per side. Grill bell pepper quarters 3—4 minutes per side until softened and slightly charred. Grill tomato slices 1—2 minutes per side just to warm through. Transfer all vegetables to a platter as they finish.
4. Assemble the napoleons. On each serving plate, layer in this order: one eggplant round, one zucchini plank, one bell pepper piece, one tomato slice, one slice of fresh mozzarella. Repeat layers once more, finishing with a final eggplant round on top.
5. Finish and serve. Drizzle each napoleon generously with basil oil and finish with a thin drizzle of balsamic glaze. Serve immediately while the vegetables are still warm, or let rest at room temperature for up to 30 minutes before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 390 | Protein: 14g | Fat: 28g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 6g | Sodium: 510mg