Ratatouille – The French Stew

French Ratatouille

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants (If you don’t have eggplant, no worries, you can substitute more squash. I like to use yellow squash)

6-8 medium zucchini  (or more if you are not using eggplant)

2 purple  onions sliced or chopped
3  red sweet peppers sliced or chopped

4 large tomatoes  (select the roma or beefsteak variety if possible. If you let ripen on your window seal till it is dark red, your stew will be even more amazing.)

1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic or more if you like it spicy!
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh basil

1 T. Herbes de Provence 

dash of cayenne pepper flakes or ground

Spices to taste:

Salt and pepper, Cajun spices, Soy sauce, red wine or stock and a bit of sugar or honey.

Prepare the eggplant.  cut in cubes and soak in salt water to remove bitterness.  I also like to soak my zucchini as well.

saute oil and garlic in wok

stir fry onions till clear. add eggplant and squash and peppers.

Stir Fry with lid on to force the eggplant and squash to soften.  Stir frequently.

add herbs, spices and tomatoes add a little water or canned tomatoes if you like

Place in dutch oven and simmer for at least 30 min. or up to one hour on low heat or put in crock pot for several hours on low.

Crock pot meals are great because you can fix up a bunch in the morning and come back in the evening and you have your meal all hot and ready for you.

This can also be made ahead of time and reheated.

Serve with brown rice.

Time to Detox

After the holidays and after I have eaten more than I had planned, I thought it was a good idea to go on a detox soup.

I found one at glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com – here and I set to make this delicious soup.  As usual, I did not have all the ingredients so I made up my own version and added a few extra spices.

So here’s my version.  We loved it and I ate it 4 times in a row. Felt great after, but not sure how much detoxing I did.

Happy detoxing!

 

Harvest Veggie Detox Soup

1 T. olive oil

4 cloves garlic pressed

1/4 to 1/2 t. ginger powder

2 t. curry powder

1 t. tumeric

1/2 t. cayenne pepper powder

1 onion chopped

3 carrots peeled and chopped

1 cup fresh zucchini cut up in small chunks

1 apple peeled and diced

1 cup pumpkin – fresh (you could use sweet potato or butternut squash if you don’t have pumpkin)

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 qt. water

1 cup tomato paste

1 1/2 cups chick peas soaked already

salt, cajun spice, 2 vegetable bouillon cubes, italian seasonings, Jo Jo Potato seasoning– all to taste

cook in crock pot until everything is tender. pay special attention to the chick peas.

Add 14 oz coconut milk and 1 t. raw honey

and blend in blender a little at a time.

You can garnish with lime slice and cilantro.

I creamed only as I ate the soup. I just added the coconut milk in the soup just before blending and then I could save the soup in the fridge for later, at which time I heated and then creamed the soup.

Perfect for several meals.

If you are doing on stove top, just cook covered on low until all the vegetables are tender. (about 30 min.) In this case I would use canned or cooked chick peas.

 

Cheesy Zucchini Biscuits

You know the familiar story of too much zucchini.  Well, I don’t have a garden, but there was this sale…  I ended up with too much to eat in one week, so I sliced some and froze for another time.  Turns out that if you plan to use your frozen zucchini in less than 3 months, you don’t have to go through the process of blanching before freezing.

After slicing, I froze in two cup bags.

To thaw I filled my blender half way full of water and  just opened the bag of frozen zucchini, dumped it in the water. I recommend you  let it sit a little while to break them up first, otherwise you will be blending a solid block of zucchini ice. Then I gave it a whirl till it was thoroughly grated.  I did two cups at a time. After getting it to the right size, I strained it through a small hole colander.

Then I let it drain and squeeze out all the water I can and it is ready for me to use for the recipe. You can also pat with a paper towel.

By the way:

This is the trick I use when ever I want to grate any vegetable.  Like when I make coleslaw, carrot cake, cornbread stuffing etc…

You hear a lot about zucchini bread, cakes etc, but how about biscuits?  These melt in your mouth!

Cheesy Zucchini Biscuits

 Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat

1 cup unbleached flour

Note: you can substitute gluten free mix if you wish.

1 tablespoon baking powder

8 T. butter

1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

1 bunch green onions,

1 cup zucchini

¾ cup milk

How to make:

1.              Preheat oven to 400°F

2.             Butter a large cookie sheet.

3.             In large mixing bowl, combine flour and baking powder and cut in the butter.

4.             Set aside.

5.             Put zucchini and green onions in food processor or blender- with water- and grate finely.  Drain till dry. Pat dry with a paper towel.

6.             Grate cheese or use blender or food processor to grate or chop.

7.             Mix in the cheese, green onions, and zucchini into the flour mixture.

8.             Stir in the milk, the dough will be sticky.

9.             Drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. About ¼ cup each.  (ice cream scoop works well or measuring cup.  You can round out the edges once the dough is on the baking sheet.

10.Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, edges and peaks will be golden in color.

11.Cool on rack

Stir Fry zucchini

4 zucchini, washed and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (2 or 3 shakes)
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce  (2 shakes)

Cut zucchini into slices. In a large saucepan heat olive oil and butter. Add 1 clove fresh garlic crushed or garlic powder. Add zucchini and stir fry on med-high heat till browning a bit, lower heat place on lid for 5 min. take off lid, continue to stir fry till tender. Add soy sauce to taste.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.