Let’s talk about best friends today, shall we?




I’ll start.




Aditi’s been mine for more years than I can count now.




Here’s a picture of us from about 10 years ago.







To the world, Ad is many things – a star basketball player in school, a tennis enthusiast, a Thai-everything lover, an HR expert, a Twitter pro (if you’re not following her yet, you should – @ADwiser), an ace pianist, and a mentalist (or so she claims), among others.




For me though, she’s a whole bunch of other things.




She’s the person I call when I need to think, but can’t. Then she thinks for me.




The voice of reason, when I’m doing something silly.
The voice of silliness, when I’m doing something too serious.




She knows the worst parts of me – the absolute worst. But never judges.




We’ve been planning a holiday around the world since we were 13. We’ll do it one day.




Sometimes we laugh so much, we can’t breathe.







An analyzer – she’ll sort out any situation, any problem, you throw at her by breaking it down most skillfully.




Oh and she does this annoying thing where she uses her name to emphasize certain words. Like this morning, she said “ADios”. AD-ios? Get it?




I have also been witness to words such as ADmire, ADvice, ADore, and my favourite one yet – ADdictive.
Grow up Ad, you’re an ADult. Hehe 🙂




In the words of Dr Cristina Yang (Grey’s Anatomy), “She’s my person. If I murdered someone, she’s the person I’d call to help me drag the corpse across the living room floor. She’s my person.”




Aditi’s in Bangalore now, and even though we are in separate cities, we time our morning runs together. It’s wonderful to wake up and check in with your friend for a workout – it’s so much more fun, and you’re much less likely to skip it when you have to answer to someone. Try it with your bestie! 🙂




Ad and I are on a getting-healthy spree, and to celebrate that I made these really cute eggplant pizzas. They’re gluten-free, vegetarian, baked, and really good for you!




It starts with this rather heavenly mix of olive oil, garlic, onions, tomatoes, and herbs.







Ooohh you will also need some of this white, delicious stuff called Mozzarella, baby.







Stick some eggplant pieces in the oven to bake.







Don’t you love eggplant? I think it might be my most favourite veggie!




Then load ’em up with the tomato-onion mix, fresh herbs, and cheese.







Make many, okay? Coz they’re yummy.







When that wonderful stringy cheese melts, you will be happy. Aren’t you smiling already? 🙂







I love healthy recipes that don’t taste “healthy”, if you catch my drift 😉




Gluten-free eggplant pizzas
Recipe adapted from: Kalyn’s Kitchen




Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Serves: 4




Ingredients:




2 round eggplants (you should be able to get 8 half-inch circular pieces from them)
salt
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
7-10 garlic cloves, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp dry mixed herbs
100 g Mozzarella, torn up or roughly cut
handful of coriander, chopped




Method:




1. Cut the eggplants into 4 even sized circular pieces each (aim for half-inch pieces). Place the pieces on paper towels and gently rub with salt on either side. Leave them for about 20 minutes, so all the water is drawn out. Wipe with a paper towel and set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan. Add the garlic and onions, and stir over medium heat until slightly brown and fragrant. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, 1 teaspoon of the dry herbs, and salt to taste – stir everything together well for about 5 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 190º C. Grease a baking tray with olive oil and lay out the eggplant pieces on it. Drizzle olive oil over the pieces and sprinkle over 1 teaspoon of the dry herbs. Bake for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the tray from the oven carefully. Top the eggplant rounds with the tomato-onion mix, followed by coriander, and a few pieces of Mozzarella. Put the tray back in the oven for 10 minutes and switch to the grill setting for the last two minutes. Remove and eat hot.




If Ad was here, we’d probably eat these while knocking back a few cold beers or whiskey sours. (Have I told you guys I make a KILLER whiskey sour? Recipe soon, I promise :))




I really do believe that Ad and I were destined to be in each other’s lives. It can’t be that such a wonderful person just happened to drop into mine.







All I know is I’m thankful for her everyday and I’m so glad she’s in my life.




Thank you for putting up with all my crap. I love you, Ad.




Here’s a picture of us from about 2 years ago.







We’ve aged so well, haven’t we? 🙂




Tell me about your best friend and why you can’t do without him/her. I’d love to hear 🙂




Have a lovely weekend. Love you guys!