Tonight, Michael was off having fun with friends, so we took the opportunity to make something not only with vegetables, not only vegetarian, but vegan (gasp)—ratatouille. Unlike most French fare, the recipe for this rustic vegetable stew is somewhat flexible. We opted for the stovetop route, adding non-traditional yellow squash and substituting red bell peppers for the typical green, resulting in a very colorful dish (red, orange, yellow, green, and purple are all in the mix). It’s really very easy, once you assemble and chop up all the ingredients! Also: surprisingly delicious despite not having any suffering in it.

Rainbow Ratatouille

• 5-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic (or to taste), broken/crushed with the back of a knife and then chopped
• 1 large onion, sliced thin
• 1 large eggplant, cut roughly into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 large zucchini, sliced into long strips and then cut into quarter-strips
• 6 small crookneck squash, cut into thin circular slices
• 1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
• 5 medium tomatoes (preferably slightly overripe), chopped roughly
• 1 tbsp each of dried thyme and oregano (or to taste)
• 1 cup shredded fresh basil
• red pepper flakes (to taste)
• kosher salt (to taste)

Sprinkle chopped eggplant and squash with salt while you start. Heat half the olive oil on medium-low, then cook the onions and garlic until onions have softened. Add the remaining oil, turn the heat up to medium; let the oil heat, but don’t let it smoke. Add the eggplant and cook until the eggplant is soft, about 8-10 minutes. Add the zucchini, crookneck squash, and bell pepper, cooking for another 10-12 minutes (stirring to prevent scorching). Finally, add the tomatoes and the seasonings, allowing everything to soak through. Let that stew for another 8-10 minutes (uncovered, as the tomatoes add a good deal of water). Serve with a baguette (and/or Rice-a-Roni if you have an entire shelf of your pantry dedicated to it because it is always on sale… *looks around shiftily*).

(Picture was taken right before the tomatoes went in.) Tomorrow: Sausage cappelini (with homemade pesto!) and bruschetta. :9

Anyhow, we got another one of those purple eggplant monsters in our CSA box last week, so we decided to try it out using a recipe from the internet. Because we also like eating MEAT we also prepared a quick chicken satay, and taking a cue from our favorite Burmese restaurant, we made coconut rice instead of the usual plain steamed rice. :9 It was all very filling, especially with Thai iced tea on the side. (After dinner I had an irresistible urge to roll around on the floor moaning “FAT FAT FAT.”)

Chicken satay

• 3 chicken breasts, cut into strips length wise and then chopped into long-ish chunks
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp cooking rice wine
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 6-8 bamboo skewers, soaked briefly in water

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and marinate for at least an hour (preferably two). Set your oven to broil with a rack in the center. Skewer the marinated meat and set on a cooking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Broil for 6-12 minutes, depending on your broiler, turning the meat 2/3 of the way through. Make sure it’s done all the way through before you serve it with delicious peanut sauce.*

Thai basil eggplant

• vegetable or other neutral oil
• 1 large or 2 medium-sized eggplants, as fresh as possible
• 1 bunch (about 1 cup) thai basil leaves, stemmed**
• 1-2 tbsp sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 0-4 Thai chili peppers (depending on your spice-tolerance), chopped
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Chop the eggplant into 1/2 inch thick rounds and then into approximately triangular or cubic chunks. Heat oil in a wok on medium-high heat, add the peppers and garlic, and fry until garlic is fragrant and golden brown. Add the eggplant, stir, add a cup of water, and cover the wok for 5-10 minutes, or until water is evaporated and the eggplant has become translucent. If you run out of water but the eggplant has not gone translucent, add a little more water (science!). Uncover, add the sugar, fish sauce, and soy sauce, and stir. Finally, add the basil and stir quickly to heat the basil such that it retains its color. Remove from heat immediately.

Coconut rice

• 2 c (dry) long-grain rice
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 standard issue can of coconut milk
• 1 1/2 c water
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• cinnamon, to taste

Wash the rice under cold water in a sieve, removing as much of the outer starch as possible. Drain well. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the rice and stir to coat, about 2 minutes, or until rice has become translucent. Add the coconut milk, water, and salt, stir, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low, simmering until the rice is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Remove it from heat, fluff it with a fork, adjust salt, and add cinnamon to taste.

Action shot! Hand courtesy Henry M. Cook, Fish Sauce courtesy Fish Sauce, esq., lack of baseboards behind oven courtesy Our Landlady.

* We used store-bought, but recipes for this abound on the internet. In a pinch you can make it by mixing peanut butter (pref. smooth, for this) together with fish sauce, soy sauce, etc. You should know what this tastes like. Also good with satay: Chopped cucumbers and red onion in vinegar.

** Thai basil is different from the other kind (which is referred to as “Italian basil” in the chaotic, swirling nexus of my mind). If you don’t know what kind you have, Thai basil is generally “more purple” than the other kind, which usually has no purple in it at all.

The caponata from here (a friend recently got Giada de Laurentiis’s cookbook and it was a worthwhile investment in terms of deliciousness) – ingredients I didn’t have on hand (capers, celery) + a bed of arugula with a little olive oil and some crumbled feta = lunch.

The next day I made the leftover caponata into toasted sandwiches with cheese and it was even better. So it’s a pretty good investment of the time it takes to saute all that stuff, especially if you are like me and derive a somewhat unhealthy pleasure from reducing an entire eggplant into little squishy cubes.