Topic: Garden
We are awash in vegetables now! Why not make three amazing vegetable dishes, refrigerate and pull them out for a salad buffet lunch or readily available sides to serve with a poached, chilled salmon or some grilled meats? All of these dishes contain vegetables that can be freshly picked, whether from your garden or your local Farmers Market!
Green Bean Salad with Walnuts and Feta
Steam 1 lb of French green beans, cut in half—until crisp-tender
Roast 6 oz walnut pieces (either bake for about 10 minutes in the oven or toss in a shallow pan on the stove top)
Cut up 6 oz. Feta cheese
Combine in a large bowl and toss with Dressing made from equal parts white wine (or Balsalmic?) vinegar and olive oil.I usually use about 1/8-1/4 cup of each—depending upon how much green beans you actually prepared. Vegetables should be coated, but not visible liquid sitting in the bowl. Whisk ingredients before tossing into salad.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Wild Rice, Tomato and Kale Salad
Cook 1 package of wild rice (making 2 cups of wild rice, when cooked)
Chop fresh kale leaves, 2 cups
Cut 2 cups of cherry tomatoes into halves
Dice 1 stalk of celery
Dice 2 small carrots
Combine above in a large bowl and toss with Dressing made from equal parts olive oil and lemon juice—see note above--add 1 Tbsp fruit puree (I used Mango) and 1Tbsp honey. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and whisk dressing thoroughly before pouring over salad, “Fatigue le Salad” with at least 40 tosses.
Ratatouille--"a Classic French vegetarian dish"
Combine the following in a large roasting pan:
2 medium Zucchini, chopped bite size chunks
2 large green peppers, larger sized diced
1 large onion, larger sized diced
1 medium, peeled eggplant, chopped into bite sized chunks (I prep eggplant ahead of time by salting directly or soak pieces in salted water about 30 minutes, then rinse and drain)
1 Tbsp capers
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 Tsp (or more) Herbs de Provence blend
Additional Fresh Rosemary sprigs
Salt and Pepper
About 1/3 cup of olive oil to toss into and coat the vegetables.
Roast vegetables with olive oil in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.
Remove roasting pan to counter and add 1-28oz can crushed, peeled and seeded tomatoes and 1-28oz can of stewed tomatoes. Stir into vegetables. Return roasting pan to the oven and bake an additional 30 minutes until vegetables are throughly cooked.
You may serve Ratatoiulle as a hot dish, or refrigerate and serve cold, which is how I have it on my luncheon plate below!
