Featured recipe from Marilu’s table * Ratatouille
It’s “what do I do with all this zucchini” time. Before your zucchini looks like a baseball bat, pick it! If you think maybe it’s getting close to the right size, but you just want to wait until tomorrow – don’t! Pick it now!
We don’t like to freeze zucchini – and we’ve tried to like it (year after year), but we’ve found it’s easier to make something with the zucchini and freeze the prepared food instead. Raw zucchini just gets too watery when it’s frozen and thawed.
Today we have links to a couple of recipes, Zucchini Fritters and Zucchini-”Cheddar” Herb Muffins. The fritters make great appetizers or snacks. They’re easy to put together and they freeze really well, so you can always have a quick snack or mini-meal ready to go. The muffins can stay in your freezer, individually wrapped and ready to go for a meal, a brown-bag lunch, or a snack.
One of our favorite dishes is Ratatouille, which we serve over whole-grain pasta or brown rice, but which could also be served over a bowl of beans, or on top of chicken or fish. This dish contains nightshades, so if you’re avoiding those, you’ll have to skip this one. It freezes (minus the starch or protein) really well.
Now if someone offers you some zucchini – go ahead and take it! You’ll be able to prepare it and have some good meals in the freezer, too.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Ratatouille
Blue * Serves 8
2-1/2 pounds tomatoes (4 large)
8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
10 fresh basil leaves, torn in half
1 Tablespoon herbes de Provence
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
salt
2 large onions, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
3 assorted bell peppers (green, red, and/or yellow), cut into 1-inch pieces
4 medium zucchini (2 pounds), quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick pieces
black pepper
Cut an X in bottom of each tomato with a sharp paring knife and blanch together in a 4-quart pot of boiling water 1 minute. Transfer tomatoes with a slotted spoon to a cutting board and, when cool enough to handle, peel off skin, beginning from scored end, with paring knife.
Coarsely chop tomatoes and transfer to a 5-quart heavy pot with garlic, parsley, basil, herbes de Provence, and 1/2 Tablespoon oil. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally.
Toss eggplant cubes with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large colander and let stand in sink 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook onions, peppers, and zucchini in 1 Tablespoon oil with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5-6 minutes. Transfer vegetables to the tomato sauce.
Pat eggplant dry with paper towels. Add 1 Tablespoon oil to skillet and cook eggplant over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 7-8 minutes. Add to tomato sauce.
Taste stew for seasoning, add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over whole-grain pasta or brown rice, or as a stew with whole-grain bread. Top with soy parmesan if desired.
Optional: Saute sliced baby bella mushrooms with onion, pepper and zucchini. Add one 15-ounce can garbanzo beans or cannelini beans, drained, for protein.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Check out these other recipes, too.
