Thursday, October 14, 2010

So, I've grown tired of ratatouille

So has Cliff.  Yes, we love it, and at the beginning of the garden season I couldn't get enough.  Eat it twice a week for three months and it wears out its welcome.  
Some vegetables only lend themselves to three or four recipes, and it's possible to grow weary of these.  The taste buds demand a little variety.  
Okra, for instance.  There's southern fried okra, which is wonderful stuff.  Southern-fried anything, however, isn't the healthiest food in the cookbook.  There's smothered okra (okra and tomatoes); there's our low-fat chicken gumbo; and then the occasional handful of okra I toss into soup or stew.  These are the only dishes in which I use okra; Cliff and I agree that we aren't yet sick of smothered okra, so that will be the way I use my next picking.   I have plenty in my freezer already.
In spite of the fact that I have only one zucchini plant, I've finally reached my quota.  I stir-fry it or use it in making ratatouille... that's it.  At least both those dishes are relatively good for us; we do love it stir-fried, with an onion and a diced sweet pepper, as a side dish.  
My sister-in-law has been wanting to make zucchini bread, so perhaps I'll let her have what's out there now for that (unhealthy) purpose if she still wants it.  
And then there's eggplant:  I would never grow tired of eggplant parmesan, but all that cheese isn't the best thing for us.  Eggplant is an ingredient in ratatouille, but I already told you I've had enough of that.  Eggplant can be grilled, but that isn't so good that I'd fire up the grill for it.  
So today I'm making Meesha's eggplant salsa.   The recipe calls for five or six tomatoes, but the ones I'm using are almost as small as cherry tomatoes.  So I'm guessing that five or six tomatoes would be about two cups of chopped tomatoes.  Waste not, want not, I always say.  Well, to be truthful, I hardly ever say that, but I think it once in awhile.  
I'm wondering whether eggplant roe would lend itself to freezing.  Perhaps I'll experiment with that today.  

3 comments:

  1. it all sounds magnificent.

    enjoy


    Mo Rage

    ReplyDelete
  2. YUM!! I would love to eat at your house. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lindie8:18 PM

    SmittenKitchen.com has an eggplant soup recipe up now. On thepauperedchef.com there is a link to serious eats for something called Pasta alla Norma which sounds fairly healthy.

    ReplyDelete

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