Ratatouille Tartine

"Ratatouille tartine" sounds fancy. But a tartine is just an open-faced sandwich. And ratatouille is a French dish of cooked vegetables.

Ratatouille usually includes eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic and herbs. If there’s a “right” combination of vegetables and a “right” way to cook it (and given that ratatouille is French, I’m sure there is) then I don’t know what it is. I do know that almost any combination of vegetables piled on top of luscious ricotta cheese and crusty bread is going to be delicious.

I first made this in August. It was a perfect summer dish. Warm veggies on cool ricotta and grilled toasts.

I made it again last week. And now it feels like the perfect fall dish, with eggplants, zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes all in season.

I'm guessing it's going to be just as good in the winter and spring.



Gather your vegetables. Grab whatever looks good.

Start chopping and sautéing. Cook a couple of vegetables at a time, so they have enough room to get tender and golden. Salt and pepper each vegetable as you cook it. I started with bell pepper and red onion.

As the veggies cook, put them into a large bowl.

Zucchini next.

Then yellow squash.

Finally, the eggplant. I like to do the eggplant by itself, to make sure it's completely tender.

Mix the cooked vegetables until they are well combined. Allow them to cool slightly.

To the mix of vegetables, add minced raw garlic and fresh thyme.

Then add uncooked tomatoes. Mix well and taste for salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, mix ricotta cheese with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. This gives the ricotta more flavor. (And makes it so delicious you want to eat it straight from the bowl.)

Toast the bread or grill until it's light brown. Top with ricotta cheese and veggies. Enjoy!

 

Ratatouille Tartine

Recipe from The Garlic Press

olive oil

1 red bell pepper

1 red onion

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

1 eggplant

1 tomato

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1 pint whole milk ricotta cheese

salt

pepper

baguette or other crusty bread

1.    Chop the vegetables, all the same size. (A small dice gives you a nice combination of flavors in each bite.) You can chop all the vegetables at once, or chop as you cook.

2.    Put olive oil in a saute pan. Add one or two vegetables, then a little salt and pepper. Don't crowd the pan or the veggies will steam. Once each vegetable is golden brown and tender, add it to a large bowl.

3.    Continue until the bell pepper, red onion, zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant are cooked. Mix the vegetables together and allow them to cool slightly. Add the chopped raw tomatoes, minced raw garlic and fresh thyme leaves. Add salt and pepper if needed.

4.    In a separate bowl, mix ricotta cheese with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.

5.    Toast the bread or grill until light brown. Top with ricotta cheese and vegetables.

Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer or 4 for dinner.

Gyro Meatballs

The June Daring Cooks’ challenge sure kept us rolling – meatballs, that is! Shelley from C Mom Cook and Ruth from TheCrafts of Mommyhood challenged us to try meatballs from around the world and to create our own meatball meal celebrating a culture or cuisine of our own choice.

When I was growing up, my town had an indoor flea market. On Saturdays and Sundays, the market would fill with vendors selling everything from live goldfish to scarves, stickers, jewelry and cassette tapes. I loved walking through the market, seeing how far I could stretch the few dollars I'd earned from mowing the lawn or babysitting my little sister.

The back of the market was where the food vendors set up. Decades later, I still remember the mouthwatering smells coming from the Greek stall. It was the gyros, in particular, that I ordered time after time. I loved the combination of fragrant, spit roasted meat, sliced thin and tossed onto a pillowy pita, topped with lettuce, tomato, onions, and garlicky tzatziki. That's the flavor I tried to recreate for this months' Daring Cooks' Challenge, which asked us to create an international meatball. 

I searched online for a gyro recipe, to see what spices give gyros their distinctive flavor. The recipe I found called for Greek seasoning, which I didn't have. According to a note in the recipe, Greek seasoning is a combination of "coarse flake salt, granulated garlic powder, Tellicherry black pepper, onion powder, Greek fancy oregano and powdered lemon peel." I pulled together most of those ingredients and substituted as best I could for things I didn't have. 

The resulting meatballs were good. They were moist and flavorful and satisfying wrapped in naan and topped with the traditional gyro accompaniments. But they didn't quite capture the flavor I was looking for. That indoor flea market shut its doors years ago. So I guess I'll have to keep searching for a gyro that lives up to the one in my memories.

Finely chop onion in food processor.

Add seasonings.

Pulse until onions and seasonings are well combined.

Using your hands, combine onion mixture with ground beef.

Roll into golf ball sized meatballs.

Working in batches, cook meatballs in skillet until browned on all sides, but not cooked through.

When browned, transfer meatballs to a baking sheet.

Bake until meatballs are cooked through.

Serve on pita bread or naan, with tzaziki, lettuce, tomato and onion.

Gyro Meatballs

Adapted from recipes by Kalyn’s Kitchen and allrecipes.com

1 small onion, cut into chunks

1 pound ground beef (or a combination of beef and lamb)

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried marjoram

1 tsp ground dried rosemary

1 tsp ground dried thyme

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 Tbsp Greek seasoning (or use a combination of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, dried Greek oregano and powdered lemon peel)

For serving: soft pita or naan, tzaziki, lettuce, tomato, onion

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.    Put onion in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add all seasonings to onion. Pulse until onion and seasonings are well blended.

3.    Place the ground beef into a large bowl. Add the onion mixture. Mix together with your hands until well combined. Roll into golf ball size meatballs.

4.    Heat canola oil in a large frying pan. Working in batches, cook meatballs until browned on all sides, but not cooked through. Transfer meatballs to a sheet pan.

5.    When all the meatballs are browned, place the sheet pan in the oven. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through but still moist.

6.    To serve, put meatballs on pita bread. Top with tzaziki, lettuce, tomato and onion.

Makes about 20 meatballs.

Smashed Avocado with Fried Egg on Toast

Breakfast is easy. Cereal. Or multigrain toast. Maybe oatmeal with walnuts if it’s cold out. Or a blueberry scone if I give in to temptation on a morning run to Whole Foods. 

Dinner is the meal that inspires me. I plan for it. I shop for it. I regularly daydream about it.

But lunch. Now that's the meal that trips me up. When I've got some, I heat up leftovers. But if I have to make something, it must be quick. But substantial. Tasty. Yet healthy. Whole, not processed (though I do have a weakness for Elios cheese pizza, go figure). Filling enough to tide me over until dinner. Heavy on veggies and grains if possible. Oh, and did I mention my intense dislike of cold cuts? 

This open faced sandwich is my new go-to. It fulfills all of my basic requirements. Simplicity at its best. Good-quality multigrain bread. Luscious avocado. A fried egg. (Which, believe me, is just gilding the lily. You could easily leave it out.) A drizzle of olive oil. A sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Lunch.

Perfection. 

Step 1. 

Step 2. You could stop right here and be a happy camper.

 Step 3. 

Step 4. Empty plate. Happy belly.

White Bean Burgers with Tomato Salad

  

I have been so excited to share this post with you! But not for the usual reason. Yes, the food is good and you should definitely try this recipe.

The reason I'm so excited is that this my first post taking photos with my Mother's Day present -- a new digital SLR camera! My husband is a smart guy. He knows the more excited I am about blogging, the more good food he gets to eat! (I actually feel a little bad for my son. These days he's always asking if I'm taking pictures of him or the food.)

I haven't even read the instruction manual and already my photos are so much better. The light, focus, background blur, it's great. Okay, truth be told I will probably never read the instruction manual. I'll wait for my husband to read it and then pick his brain. 

This blog is about food, though, not photography, so back to the white bean burgers. First, they're super healthy. Beans are a great source of protein and fiber. I've been trying to get in the habit of using them instead of meat every now and then.

This recipe has very simple flavors. Cannelini beans are pretty mild, so the lemon and scallion really come through. And the tomato salad makes a nice topping.

You can use the basic recipe and experiment with your own flavors. Next time I might add Indian spices. The texture of mashed beans is similar to that of patties made with mashed potatoes. So these could be a healthier alternative to Indian style potato pattice. I could also see making them with black beans, adding some chili powder and topping them with guacamole. Or using chickpeas and topping them with hummus. The possibilities are endless!

  

Place beans in a bowl. (Yeah, you probably didn't need a picture of this step. What can I say? I got a little shutter happy!)

Mash.

Add garlic, lemon zest and juice, scallions, bread crumbs, eggs, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper.

Mix until well combined.

Form into hamburger-size patties.

Fry until golden brown on both sides.

For tomato salad, combine tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

To serve, top warm bean burger with tomato salad. Enjoy!

White Bean Patties with Tomato Salad

Recipe from The Gouda Life

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 large cloves garlic, minced
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup chopped scallions
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
few grinds of black pepper
vegetable oil for frying

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered

2 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp olive oil

salt

pepper

1.    In a large bowl, mash the beans using a potato masher or a fork.

2.    Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well until combined. Form the bean mixture into patties about the size of a hamburger bun.

3.    Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Drizzle a little vegetable oil in the pan and wait until its hot and rippled. Fry the patties, a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until deep golden brown.

4.    For the tomato salad, combine tomatoes, cheese, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. 

Makes 6 patties

Cubanos, My Way

I’m not normally a sandwich for dinner kind of girl. But for this sandwich, I make an exception.

The original recipe, from Bon Appetit, is called the Monte Cubano. It combines a Cubano – the classic Cuban sandwich of Swiss cheese, pickles, meats and mustard with a Monte Cristo, a ham and cheese sandwich that’s dipped in an egg batter and fried.

This recipe just screamed “Customize Me!” I’m not a picky eater in the sense that I love lots of different foods and flavors and I’m always up for trying something new. On the other hand, there are some things that I know I don’t like (cilantro!) and I have definite preferences.

So I took this recipe and made it my own.

My first step was to eliminate the “Monte” part. I’m not opposed to the idea of dipping a sandwich in egg and then frying it. I do love French toast, after all. But for this sandwich, the egg batter seemed like overkill.

I moved on to the Cubano part. A traditional cubano includes both ham and roasted pork. This sounded like way too much meat for one sandwich, so I stuck with the ham and left out the pork. I substituted muenster cheese for the Swiss because that’s what I had at home. I left the mustard and pickles in place.

The best part of this sandwich is the garlicky mayonnaise. I’m not sure if this condiment is traditional in Cubanos or Monte Cristos, but whether it’s authentic or not, it really makes the sandwich. The garlic mellows a touch while the sandwich cooks, but it holds on to enough of its sharp heat to perk up the other ingredients.

Cubanos are pressed sandwiches. Next time I make this I’ll probably stick it in my panini press. But this time I buttered up the bread and cooked it on a skillet like a grilled cheese sandwich.

As you can see from the photos, I made extra. These sandwiches reheat beautifully. 

Take this recipe. Change it around. Have it your way.

First make the garlic mayo. Start with a few cloves of garlic.

Run a knife through them a few times until they’re chopped into smaller pieces.

Now sprinkle with salt.

And continue to chop more and more finely.

Once the pieces are nice and small, turn your knife on its side and begin to mash the garlic into a paste. The salt will give you some traction and make this job a little easier.

Mix the garlic paste into your mayo and set aside.

Now to assemble the sandwich. I used a hearty Pullman loaf. Use a sturdy bread, something that won’t buckle under the weight of the fillings.

Spread mustard on the bottom bread.

Add some ham,

pickles (I used kosher dill),

and cheese.

Spread garlic mayo on the top slice of bread.

Place the top slice on the sandwich and butter it.

Grill the sandwich, buttered-side down first. While this side is grilling, spread butter on the top. (I prefer to butter the bread rather than melting butter in the pan.)

Once the first side is golden brown, flip it over and cook the second side for a minute or two.

As each sandwich cooks, set it on a cooling rack. This will allow your sandwich to cool without getting soggy.

Cut your sandwich in half.

And enjoy!

Cubanos, My Way

Adapted from Bon Appetit

2 slices firm bread

1 to 2 tsp mustard

3 dill pickle slices

2 slices boiled ham

1 slice muenster cheese

½ garlic clove

½ Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp butter, softened

1.      Mix and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt. Then mix with mayonnaise.

2.      Spread one slice of bread with mustard. Top with ham, then pickles, then cheese. Spread garlic mayonnaise on remaining slice of bread and assemble sandwich. Spread butter on top of sandwich.

3.      Grill in a preheated, nonstick skillet for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until bread is golden brown.

4.      Serve warm.

Makes 1 sandwich