Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Curry Soup

I have always had a serious love affair with eggplant, but this purple delicious vegetable has not always complied with me in past cooking attempts. I've cut it up, salted, put it on a strainer, etc. etc. and it always came out a little bitter and mostly soggy. Yum. Well - I've finally found a recipe that I successfully mastered the eggplant and I'm so excited. I had bought one from my grocery store and was thinking of ways to cook it, and decided that I wanted to cook a soup to bring with me to work the next day. From there I decided I was going to roast that mutha and then immersion blend the hell outta it. Thus we have...

Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Curry Soup

Ingredients:
- 1 eggplant
- 1 bell pepper (I used orange)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (more if needed)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp garlic, minced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp curry
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- Handful of chopped parsley
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- Kosher salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. After chopping bell pepper and eggplant, toss in bowl with olive oil and a little Kosher salt. Lay vegetables on covered baking sheet with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Roast for 25-30 minutes.

2. While eggplant and bell pepper is roasting, sauté onions with olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds - 1 minute. Add broth, spices and parsley. Then add roasted vegetables. Can simmer for 5 minutes or however long you want (I let mine simmer for around 2 hours).

3. After soup has simmered, use either immersion blender, regular blender or food processor to puree soup until it reaches desired consistency. Return to pot and stir in coconut milk and lemon juice.