Ratatouille

Summer gardens are teeming with squash, zucchini, yummy eggplants, and the tomatoes have finally arrived too. A stormy and rainy evening makes it feel ok to use the oven inside and ratatouille is the perfect meal to showcase all of these incredible summer veggies. Ratatouille typically uses zucchini, peppers, eggplant, tomato, onion, and garlic. I think it’s completely acceptable to use what you have on hand, I’ve replaced eggplant with mushrooms and zucchini with patty pan squash (it may not be traditional when done this way but it still tastes awesome).

Because I’m American I always think of our own Julia Child when it comes to French Cooking and her ratatouille recipe is near perfect. However, I cook mine in the oven because I can walk away and do other things while it takes care of itself and I like to add a few fresh herbs and extra garlic.

Lastly, if you aren’t making this as a side item (goes great with roast chicken) I love to throw some yummy pre-cooked sausage on top for the final quarter of cooking time to save dishes and turn this into a complete meal.

What you need:

• 1 lb. eggplant (I suggest small japanese eggplant)

• 1 lb. zucchini (or any squash, I used gold zucchini and green patty pan)

• 5-6 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/2 lb. (about 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced yellow onions)

• 1 pound tomatoes (whatever are ripe and on hand)

• 2 (about 1 cup) sliced green bell peppers (I like to use red, orange, yellow too)

• 4 cloves sliced garlic

• 3 tbsp fresh basil and parsley, plus more for garnish

• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400. Meanwhile, chop all of the vegetables into about 1 inch pieces. You want them to be uniform in size. Toss with olive oil, herbs, garlic, and salt, and pepper. A large Pyrex casserole or dutch oven works well for this. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure even cooking.

Salmon Caesar

We have been on a big baked salmon kick in our house lately because it’s so versatile. I have discovered the wild caught perfectly portioned filets in the freezer section at Whole Foods and just pull them out as needed and thaw in a bowl of water, they are ready to bake in 30-40 minutes. I have a couple of go-to seasonings, you can really go in any direction. For this version I just did a few cranks of salt and pepper, parsley, lemon zest, and a drizzle of fresh squeezed lemon juice. A 4-6 oz filet takes about 12 minutes in the oven, it’s done when it flakes when gently pressed with a fork and is still lightly pink in the center.

For this salad, I sliced up some beautiful heirloom tomatoes, shaved a bunch of parmesan cheese (can you have too much?), and tossed in a few homemade croutons. You can make homemade Caesar dressing if you have the time, but for a week night meal I say go with store bought! There are plenty of good options out there, use what you love (lately I’ve been into Cindy’s Kitchen, Brianna’s, and Gotham Greens dressings).

*Quick Croutons: This is so easy, slice up whatever bread you have on hand into one inch squares. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine. Place on a baking sheet in the oven for about 5-10 minutes at 425, check and toss every few minutes so they get evenly toasted and don’t burn.

Veggie Fajitas

Sometimes when I go to the Farmers Market or grocery store I get overly excited about the fresh local produce and I buy way more than my family can consume before it goes bad. These veggie fajitas are a perfect solution to using up whatever you have on hand, the key is that it needs to be prime ripeness to ensure it will have the most flavor. You can make these with vegetables that are out of season and have traveled far to reach you, but they won’t be as good. When you use the best summer produce you need very little seasoning and these taste incredible. For today’s purposes, I used patty pan squash, red bell peppers, Vidalia onion, cremini mushrooms, and a beautiful mix of colored green beans. Patty Pan squash is very well suited for tacos/fajitas because they are firm and hold up better than zucchini or yellow squash, plus their variety of colors makes the plate look inviting.

The recipe is very simple, chop up all the vegetables into bite sized pieces and add to a medium-hot pan that’s been prepped with a drizzle of olive oil. Add a sprinkle of fresh ground salt and pepper. Stir occasionally. When the veggies have softened and are almost cooked through, add a dusting of cumin, chili powder, and dried oregano. If you are using about 2 lbs chopped vegetables a tsp of each should be enough. I really like the veggies to speak for themselves here. When the veggies have finished cooking I divided them among corn tortillas and topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, fresh tomato salsa, and broccoli sprouts. The sprouts add a nice crunch, you could use any type but the broccoli sprouts have a peppery kick to them which is nice for this dish.

For my tomato salsa, a good ripe tomato is key as with the rest of the recipe. I used about 1 cup diced tomato, 1/4 cup finely diced vidalia onion, 1 bell pepper finely chopped, 1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lemon and lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste (for me its always a couple cranks on the grinder….maybe 1/2 tsp each).