Ratatouille ingredients from the garden By midsummer the vegetable garden is going great guns. You are harvesting enough sun–loving vegetables and herbs to share with neighbors while still having plenty for the family. Whether you intentionally planned the garden to make your favorite recipes or just improvise home–grown recipes as things ripen, recipes will crop up.

Certain vegetable recipes allow the cook and diners to partake of a mélange of veggies all at one time. If you are feeding a crowd or family of four, one–dish summer meals from the garden are a snap.

Ratatouille, a Mediterranean vegetable stew blends the colors, textures, and flavors of eggplant, sweet peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, garlic, and basil. The dish originated in France when the farmers of Provence tossed the best of their summer harvest into one cooking pot. Italians call their vegetable toss a caponata, Greeks contribute the vegetable casserole of moussaka, and India proffers vegetable curries. A summer succotash of corn, limas or other shell beans, tomatoes, and peppers resembles a Native American one–dish meal. Create your unique vegetable toss.

Yellow zucchini is a prolific performer in the summer weather. A summer vegetable recipe garden transfers from the harvest to the microwave to the taste buds in no time. Gourmet microwave cookbooks include delicious versions of ratatouille in 20 minutes. The traditional ratatouille recipe requiring sautéing of each vegetable separately before commingling at the end just before serving takes time, but the results feature the most flavor from each vegetable.

Leftover ratatouilles and ragouts taste even better the second day. Leftovers will seem totally new when used as pizza topping, stuffing for a burrito, or ingredients for a quiche, omelet, or crepe.

Ratatouille vegetable stew blends the flavors of summer garden vegetables in one dish. Stir–fries are an easy and colorful way to coax flavor from summer veggies. Since nearly any vegetable can be used in a stir–fry, your recipes will change with maturity dates of the crops.

A rainbow of raw vegetables on a platter ready for dipping makes a great snack. A raw vegetable salad or steamed vegetable plate is a cool accompaniment to the main course or can be substantial enough to be the entrée. Skewer vegetable chunks for grilling or broiling or for just nibbling raw. Skewered garden edibles are a fun way to make vegetables appealing to children. Homemade vegetable soup and chowder recipes adapt easily to available harvest as do vegetable stroganoff and sandwiches.

Vegetable pâtés are time consuming to make but elegant as a salad, side dish, or appetizer.

Bowl of basil for flavoring one–dish meals Even consider concocting a summer cooler similar to V–8 juice.

Your summer vegetable garden provides economical and nutritious ingredients for one–dish meals for the entire family to enjoy.
Fresh vegetables and herbs make a cool summer salad.
By Arlene Marturano marturanoa@yahoo.com