Who’da Thunk Ratatouille Would Become One of My Favorite Meals?

Ratatouille — Until recently I didn’t know how to say it, I didn’t know what was in it. The only thing I new about Ratatouille was that a cartoon rat in a kids movie seemed to have an affinity for the dish. It’s not a dish I’d ever thought about making or even trying, and if you’d told me before trying it that Ratatouille would become a craving — something I absolutely have to have all ingredients for in my home at all times, I’d have looked at you cockeyed. Thankfully, my boyfriend Brian’s cousin bought us Plenty, a cookbook written by Yotam Ottolenghi, for Christmas. And she was excited about it! She said she’d found the book while living in Spain, and that she, literally, used the book every day. (Check out NPR’s review of the book here.)

Poor Brian is not adventurous when it comes to food, which is odd when you consider his love of food. If asked about his personality, any friend or family member would site food, love of cooking, and sharing home cooked meals as a major part of who he is. That doesn’t mean, however, that he has a large comfort zone regarding food — no fish, unless it’s fried, meat with every meal, if he can’t pronounce the name, he probably won’t eat it, etc. Ratatouille, therefore, is a dish I make while he’s cooking fried chicken or some other forbidden meal that begs me to try, “just one bite,” but never stops with just one bite.

Yotam Ottolenghi introduces this recipe by writing, “Although I call this ratatouille, the name doesn’t do it any justice, as this is the most magnificently delicious dish, nothing like the drab pile of limp zucchini I’d normally associate with the name…” He says it perfectly. This is a must try recipe. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do! (I also hope that someday I can get Brian to try it…)

***Warning: This recipe uses oil, and the word, “frying.” Please don’t be afraid. Olive oil is good for you! Of course, you don’t want to fry every meal you eat, regardless of the type of oil used for frying, but we need fat to survive, and every ingredient in this recipe (minus the small amount of sugar for taste) is loaded with nutrients, so enjoy it. Your taste buds, and your body will thank you!***

Ingredients

7 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice (the size is not pertinent. What matters, is that the veggies are diced into large pieces, and they are all the same size.)

4 garlic cloves, sliced

2 red peppers, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1 cup peas

1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1 medium zucchini, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1/2 large eggplant, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1 sweet potato, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 package tofu, cut into 1 1/4 inch dice

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp tomato paste

salt and black pepper to taste

1 cup water

chopped basil to garnish

Directions

Pour two-thirds of the oil into a large pot, and place on medium high heat. Add the onions, and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next, stir in the garlic and red peppers, and fry for another 5 minutes. Add the squash, and continue frying another 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, lift the vegetables out of the pot and into a medium bowl, leaving as much of the oil in the pot as possible. Top the pot off with the remaining oil. Add the peas, zucchini, eggplant, and tofu to the hot oil, and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Return the contents of the bowl to the pot. Add the potato, tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, and plenty of salt and pepper. Stir well, then pour in the water, or just enough to half-cover the vegetables. Cover with a lid, and leave to simmer gently for 30 minutes. Taste the vegetables, and add more salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, preheat the oven to 400F. Use a slotted spoon to gently lift the vegetables from the pot and into a large, deep roasting pan to make a layer about 1 1/4 inches thick. Pour the liquid over the vegetables and place in the oven to cook for 30 minutes. At this point all the vegetables should be very soft, and most of the liquid evaporated. Garnish with basil, and serve.

Serves 4

Sweet Potato Shepard’s Pie

For Labor Day weekend, Brian and I had two of our closest friends over for burgers, beer, and catching up. I made turkey burgers for the ladies, while Brian made a more sinful burger for the gents.

I was surprised a couple of days later — bent over, with my head in my fridge, staring at  leftover ground turkey — at how rarely I eat ground turkey. It’s delicious, nutritious, and inexpensive. I’m not sure why it took me so long to get on the ground turkey bandwagon, but I am officially on. This recipe was a result of having ground turkey, a handful of leftover veggies, and a couple sweet potatoes lying around. I hadn’t eaten Shepard’s Pie in years, so I adapted a recipe I found posted on simplyrecipes.com by Elise Bauer. Click here for the original.

Don’t be put off by the photos. Shepard’s Pie is one of those meals that doesn’t look like much, but I promise each bite is like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

1 onion chopped

1-2 cups vegetables – chopped carrots, corn, peas (your choice)

2 large yams

Nonstick no calorie butter spray

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4-1/2 cup soy milk at your discrepancy

Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

1/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

METHOD

Peel and quarter yams, boil in salted water until fork tender (about 20 minutes).

While the yams are cooking, coat large frying pan with large amount of butter spray.

Sauté onions in butter spray until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas at the end of the cooking of the onions. Add additional cooking spray each time a new vegetable is added.

Add ground turkey, and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add Worcestershire sauce. Add half a cup of water, and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes.

Mash yams in bowl with soy milk. (Truthfully, yams are velvety enough by themselves, that you don’t have to  add milk, but you absolutely can if you’d like.) Season with salt and  pepper to taste.

Place turkey mix in baking dish. Distribute mashed yams on top, and sprinkle with Panko. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely.

Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Yield: Serves four