Veg Up!

If I see a recipe on line that involves veggies, I will share and try it and continue to fuss with it until it's mine. Yes, combining vegetables and herbs and spices with additions of flavorful oils or nuts will send your palate dancing in the street.

However, let's be real. Fresh vegetables cost as much as meat these days. So, unless you can grow them, or have a constant supply from your local farmers, you are stuck using frozen ones.
This recipe will work with frozen veggies.


Easy Minestrone

Ingredients for four servings:

Two cups of assorted vegetables/fresh or frozen
One cup/can of beans, any type, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup of olive oil or half oil, half butter
Two Tablespoons of chopped aromatics such as onions, garlic, chili peppers, lemon zest...
Sprinkling of cheese
Bread
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute' your chopped aromatics in the butter/oil mix until fragrant, one, two minutes. Add your vegetables and saute for another minute or two until flavors have combined. Add the beans until warmed through. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper and lemon zest.

Voila', your minestrone is ready to be eaten in less time that it takes to warm up a frozen dinner. Add crusty bread and you have a full meal.

Get your morning going.

Most mornings, I want nothing more than a strong cup of coffee. If I lived alone, I wouldn't even think  about breakfast until mid morning when my stomach would start growling, and by then, I would be too weak to eat anything, or so hungry that I'd eat the proverbial horse.

This is a one pan dish, easily cooking while coffee is brewing and you are brushing your teeth.
It consists of three items, plus olive oil and salt and pepper.
It comes easily on the table and it can be served with sausages, or eggs, or both.

Saute slices of onions, potatoes and zucchini in olive oil until soft. Add salt and pepper and any fresh herb you like at this point.
Add one or two eggs per person in the last three minutes of cooking.
Cover and turn off the pan. The eggs will  cook in the residual heat and can be soft or hard, to your liking, about two-three minutes of time.

Try to find this in any restaurant!

Serve with toast.

Ratatouille

If you arrive at my house hungry, any time of the day, I can whip this ratatouille dish for you in no time.With crusty bread, some poached eggs, even a glass of wine, we can sit and talk and share for a few hours.

I just finished this meal at breakfast, with plenty of coffee. Any leftover vegetables will be a great snack later in the day.

Ingredients:
1 small eggplant, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 zucchino, diced
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1t diced garlic
1 bay leaf
1t chopped capers (optional)
1T balsamic vinegar (optional)
2T water
2T olive oil
salt and pepper
small bunch of herbs, such as basil, parsley, thyme.

Everything goes in together at the same time, except the vinegar and water which will be added toward the end.  Sautee gently until soft.

Add an egg to the concoction at the very end. Cover,  turn off and wait five minutes. The residual heat and steam will soft-boil your egg to perfection.

Add crusty bread and you have a meal to remember for a while.
Enjoy!