It isn’t often that I get into a food rut, but it does happen. There are very few things, other than time, that can yank me out of that rut. One of the no-brainers though, is a good farm-share week. This week our farm share kicked into high gear and gave me a great collection of vegetables that was in a word: inspiring!
To my farm share’s basket of eggplant, garlic, squash, zucchini, tomato & onions, I added herbs from my own garden: basil, thyme and rosemary to make a fantastic summer recipe:
CC Image courtesy of Tomáš Zeleninský on Wikipedia
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 chopped garlic cloves
- 1 large eggplant (unpeeled), diced
- 2 green bell peppers, diced
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1 onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 large zucchini and/or squash, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped
- Leaves from two 3” long thyme stems
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 4 ounces diced feta cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a heavy, large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Add eggplant, green bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, zucchini and basil. Saute for 5 minutes. Cover and simmer until all vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Uncover pot and simmer until juice thickens, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Mix in vinegar; season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spread in 9-inch pie dish. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.
Serve alone, hot with pasta or room temp with fresh bread. For drink try to stick with the foods roots & have a Côtes-du-Rhône!