Savory Roasted Vegetables

Tis the season of summer bounty! Yay fresh veggies!! This will take about an hour to prepare and cook. The most time consuming part of this recipe is chopping up all of the vegetables.

Roasting veggies can be done in big batches with little effort and can be stored for a week. They can be served hot or cold, as a side dish or part of the main meal. I have served the veggies over rice or in a homemade tortilla flat bread. But also in a sandwich with hummus, on a pizza or in a quesadilla!

You can use whatever veggies looked good at the market, were on sale, or you had extra laying around! I used oregano because I like that herb, but you could also use parsley, thyme, basil, etc.  Also, the amount of oil will change based upon how many veggies you are cooking and need to cover.

PS Someday I will invest in a better camera beside my phone and I will work on my presentation skills! I swear this was tasty and I will be making it again!

Roasted Veggies
Serves 3 (as a main dish)
 
1 zucchini, circle slices
1 med eggplant, sliced into sticks, salted and let sit in a strainer for 30 minutes, rinsed
~1/2 cup Carrots, sliced into sticks
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 orange pepper, sliced
~1 cups chopped broccoli, large chopped
1/4 lg onion, large dice or sliced

1/4-1/2 cup Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
1/4 tsp Oregano (optional)
1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes (optional)

Combine olive oil, salt & pepper to taste, oregano, red pepper flakes (optional).

Toss veggies in olive oil. Spread onto a cookie sheet in one layer.  Use more than one sheet if necessary. Roast in oven at 425F for 20-35 minutes. They should start to get a little crispy but not burning.

If you want the veggies to be softer and are at the amount of "crisp" that you want, continue to cook at 350F.

Roasted Eggplant Bites

Eggplant! One of my favorite veggies, but it can be cooked so horribly wrong. I also was curious about baking it instead of frying the pieces up.

Verdict? Baking / Roasting the eggplant was great! However, it was very pale and didn't look very appetizing. Next time I will sprinkle some olive oil over the top to see if that helps to make it look more golden.

I like the Panko breadcrumbs because they are bigger and flakier, the spices in the mix were just to taste, about a tsp of each. I sprinkled the minced garlic over the top of the breaded eggplant prior to roasting it. You can use a tsp or so of garlic powder mixed in the breadcrumbs as an option too.

It also could be topped with a slice of tomato or some tomato sauce and then some fresh mozzerella cheese and some basil for an appetizer... Anyone want to come over for dinner so I have an excuse to make some?

Roasted eggplant served with a side of pasta

Roasted Breaded Eggplant Bites
1 egg plant, med size
1 egg
Panko bread crumbs (1-2 cups?)
Red pepper flakes (1 tsp)
Oregano (1 tsp) or Italian seasoning
Garlic, minced or powdered

Slice eggplant about 1/4 inch thick.  No I have never measured this.
Liberally sprinkle salt on the eggplant and let it sit in a strainer in the sink for about 30 minutes. Rinse.

Preheat oven to 400F
In one bowl scramble an egg and with a splash of water. In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs, red pepper flakes, oregano, and garlic.
Dip eggplant in the egg, let it excess egg drip off.  Dip in breadcrumb mix and then place on cookie sheet.
Put in oven for 15-20 minutes.

Remove and top with sauce and cheese and a side of pasta! Or just eat it right off the tray!

Pasta Verde (plus summer squash & eggplant)

I have a bunch of veggies remaining from previous dinners so I decided I wanted to make a primavera. I searched a few recipes but they need milk or cream and I didn't have that. Then I saw Martha Stewart's Pasta Verde here. I even had all the ingredients (and a few extra)!

I prepped the eggplant. Sliced or cubed the veggies (summer squash, zucchini, onion, snap peas).

Eggplant: Slice, Salted, Sits for 30 minutes, Rinse, Squeeze liquid out

Heated the frying pan, added oil, and then some garlic powder. Added the onion. When the onion started to look translucent I added the other veggies.

Meanwhile I cooked some pasta.

When the veggies were just about tender I wilted in some spinach and added in the snap peas into the pan.

Combine ingredients for dressing

Then I added the dressing. The dressing was ok, I just don't really like Dijon mustard. I tossed the pasta in with the veggies and served.

Next time I would try using less Dijon mustard. And maybe more vinegar.

Pasta Verde
makes 4

Dressing
1 tbsp Olive Oil, 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard, 2 tbsp Cider Vinegar, Salt & Pepper

Pasta
Olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Onion, diced
Eggplant, salted/strained then sliced/cubed
Summer Squash, cubed
Zucchini, sliced
Spinach
Snap Peas

Cook pasta according to directions
Combine ingredients to make dressing
Heat olive oil and garlic powder in frying pan. Add onion. When translucent add veggies. When tender add a handful or two of spinach and snap peas.
Combine dressing, veggies, and pasta.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Lasagna

Girls night! And I'm still on a zucchini kick, so I decided to make a hearty vegetable lasagna and talked Kelly into it. It is full of zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, and spinach and then layered with ricotta and mozzarella cheese and a tomato basil sauce.

Fairly fast dinner, takes about an hour with 20 minutes waiting for eggplant prep, 20 in the oven and 20 actively cooking and assembling.

You can also sub in other veggies or add in more veg. Others could include mushrooms, peppers, onions....

 

Chop up the veggies to about the same size and thickness. They will be sauteed and baked so about 1/4 inch.

I also salted the eggplant and let it sit in the strainer for about half hour to let the bitter out of it.

Heat oil and spices (oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder) for a minute. When pan is hot add in veggies. Toss around in the oil. After about 4-5 minutes, when veggies are still al dente, wilt in spinach and chopped fresh basil.

Layering begins! I put down some sauce in the bottom of the pan, then some veggie mix, then pasta sheets. Not really sure why I put the veggies on the bottom, a little sauce would have been good... but it didn't really make a difference with the veggies. Anyways, a dollop of ricotta cheese, some tomato sauce, more veggies, a handful of mozzarella cheese, then more pasta sheets!

Layering in action!

 Cover dish with foil and cook at 350 for 20 minutes. I cook it for a shorter time because the veggies are already hot. Take foil off and broil for another 5 minutes. Keep an eye on it though, it gets brown fast!

Golden cheesey topping!!

 

 Let it cool a minute or two, then cut and serve. Tender veggies in every bite!

 It was soo tasty. Highly recommend this and will make again!

Vegetable Lasagna
Makes 4 servings

olive oil
1/2 tsp each of oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder
1/2 a zucchini, a squash, a eggplant; sliced and quartered (approx 1 cup or a little more of each)
1/2 of a 6 oz bag of spinach (could add more though)
1/4 cup basil leaves
15 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
12 oz jar of tomato sauce (I used tomato basil flavor)

Slice veggies
Salt eggplant and let sit for about half hour, then rinse

In frying pan add a tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 tsp of oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Add zucchini, squash and eggplant, cook about 5 minutes
Wilt in spinach and basil leaves

Put some sauce in the bottom of the pan
Add some of the cooked veggie mix
Put down the pasta sheet... then Ricotta cheese, Sauce, Veggies, Mozzarella cheese then another sheet of pasta. Continue another 2-3 times ending with mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil, cook 20 minutes at 350 degrees
Cook additional 5 minutes under broiler - but keep an eye on it!

Pasta with zucchini and eggplant in a basil tomato sauce

I love learning new things! I finally prepared an eggplant as you are supposed to!! What does that mean? It means, there was no funky/bitter after taste, just tender eggplant. Nom!

I followed the directions from here. It is the section called, "Salt for best flavor."

I sliced the eggplant and put it in a strainer, then I poured lots of salt over it, and let it sit for about 45 minutes. Then I rinsed it really well, if you don't you will end up with a few very salty pieces. If it is going into a sauce you'll probably be fine, but if you were going to fry it I'd take more care.

On to the rest of the meal! Inspiration came from this site. Boiled some water for the pasta. Heated some oil in a pan. When the pan was hot I added in the zucchini and the eggplant. This cooks fairly quickly, maybe 5-7 minutes. The zucchini and eggplant start to become so tender!

Without Ricotta cheese

Then I added about 1 cup of tomato sauce (jar, Tomato, Garlic, & Onion), red pepper flakes, and some fresh basil leaves. Yes, I have recently acquired a basil plant. Let me know if you need some leaves!

Because I was being creative and because I had it in the fridge, I also added in a 1/3 cup of ricotta cheese. It was yummy. I made it without the ricotta, still tasty!

If sauce is too thick add some pasta water a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

Add pasta to the sauce and voila! Dinner is ready!

Pasta with Zucchini and Eggplant in a Basil Tomato Sauce
Makes 2 servings

1 1/2 cup of pasta
Olive oil
1/2 med zucchini (approx 1 1/2 - 2 cups)
1/2 small eggplant
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

Cook pasta according to directions
Heat oil in frying pan. Add zucchini and eggplant. When tender, 5-7 minutes, add tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, and basil. Combine with pasta.

 Enjoy!