Ratatouille

I had to share this summer meal with you guys because we eat this at least once a week if not more. And you need to try it before all of these delicious summer veggies are out of season! I for one never thought I would like this dish. The name alone just doesn't sound appealing to me {pronounced rat-a-two-ee}. I definitely didn't think my husband would like it. But to my surprise he loved it and so did I! The following is a more traditional ratatouille recipe but read the notes below to find out how I tweak it...

Ratatouille

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 cups eggplant, diced
1 cup bell pepper, diced
1/8 tsp ground thyme
1 cup zucchini, diced
1 cup yellow squash, diced
1 cup tomatoes, diced
2 tbs fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parmesan cheese, grated

In a large sauté pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, stir occasionally. Sauté until the onion starts to become translucent. Add eggplant and ground thyme and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper to the pan. Sauté another 5 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash to the pan and sauté another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, fresh basil, salt and pepper and cook an additional 5 minutes. Serve over rice, pasta, crusty garlic bread or by itself! Then sprinkle {more like drown} the Ratatouille with parmesan cheese. Yum!

FYI: Our favorite way is over crusty garlic bread and eating it bruschetta style. But we've tried all 3 ways and each are delicious in their own right.

*Special Notes: The hubs and I don't like eggplant. So instead of eggplant I add an extra cup each of zucchini and yellow squash. I just didn't want to leave it out of the recipe for those of you who like eggplant or are feeling adventurous and might want to try it. If you plan on skipping the eggplant like we do, then just add the ground thyme with the bell pepper and then continue with recipe as follows.

Honey Roasted Carrots

We make homemade potato wedges all.the.time as a side for dinner {recipe to come soon! sorry we've been slacking} I was getting a little tired of potato wedges all of the time. Luckily, I remembered this recipe for honey roasted carrots. Soo delicious!

8 medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into pieces {or what I estimated to be about 3-4 big handfuls of baby carrots}

1 tbs honey

1 tbs olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil {very important for easy clean up!}. Toss carrots with honey, olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread out carrots even on the baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes or until browned and tender all way through. Enjoy!

Sweet Potatoe Fries

I'm sure many of you have seen sweet potato fries popping up at many restaurants these days. We love them. I actually prefer them to french fries, though I still occasionally have a craving. Making sweet potato fries is very easy and doesn't involve a deep fryer. Sweet potato fries are not crispy, instead they are soft and delicious. The hard part is cutting them. Sweet potatoes are a lot harder to cut then a white potato, so watch your fingers.

Now many times when I go to buy a sweet potato I cannot find a sweet potato but yams. While researching the difference online I came across this blog that examined the difference. Turns out what we call a yam is really a sweet potato, though there are different kinds. After reading the blog it seems that what I usually pick up is a camote, they are bigger.
2 sweet potatoes
Lemon Pepper
Kosher salt
Italian Seasoning
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 475. Cut the sweet potato in half long ways. Cut in half again and then cut into strips. Line a baking pan with tin foil {saves on clean up} and drizzle olive oil coating the pan. Spread the sweet potato strips so they are even, then season to taste with salt, lemon pepper and Italian seasoning. Bake for 20 minutes.

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

I made this fruit salad for the first time at the beginning of the summer. Since then I've made it at least 5 times. Each time I've tried a new fruit in it and each time I've gotten compliments on this yummy salad! I love how fresh and light it is! I got the original recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. It originally called for some canned fruits but I modified the recipe to use all fresh fruits. So much better!






Honey Lime Fruit Salad
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberries, quartered
1 cup grapes
2-3 kiwis peeled and sliced in to half moons
4 clementines peeled and sectioned
2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
zest from 1 lime
2 tbs honey

Directions:
Combine fruit in medium sized bowl. Add lime zest and drizzle honey over the fruit. Gently mix until evenly coated. Serve.

Serves 4

Notes: This salad is works best if you add the lime and honey right before serving. Otherwise the strawberries turn everything pink. It still tastes great it just doesn't look as pretty!

Fried Zucchini Chips

I've been MIA for the past week. We went camping with my husband's family and then as soon as we got home I promptly came down with the flu or food poisoning. The mere thought of food has made my stomach turn. I've been living off of chicken noodle soup and jello for the past couple of days. It's been rather unpleasant. But now I'm back on my feet and ready to eat!

I've had my eye on this recipe for Zucchini Chips from 100 Days of Real Food for awhile. My mom and step dad have been growing a vegetable garden and dropped off some zucchini the other day and I knew just what to do with it! And it was tasty! I think next time I would also like to try baking them. The frying didn't exactly agree with my acid reflux ;)




Ingredients:
2 medium zucchinis
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:
Thinly slice zucchini in to 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices {personally I prefer the thicker slices}. Beat eggs in a small bowl. Combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Put bread crumb mixture in to a shallow bowl. Take zucchini slice and dip in the beaten egg and then cover the zucchini in the bread mixture. Once all of the zucchini slices have been breaded heat the olive oil in a large saute pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot add a layer of breaded zucchini slices to the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Once cooked, place on plate with a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Serves 4-6