Meatless Wednesday

 

Who says meatlessness has to stick to Mondays? In truth, I am trying to make sure that we eat veggie at least two or three evenings a week. This week, we are between food binges, having had a lovely foodie weekend eating out and barbecuing carnivorously last week, and getting ready to head up to Tahoe next week for more of the same, so I have been striving for healthy all week. This of course all ties in with the Cancel-Out Effect I described in a previous post (see Skinny Dipping, 7/15/13). One week of halo-polishing, vegetable-worshiping, health-conscious eating will of course cancel out the impact of the Kettle chip and cocktail binge I have planned for the sunny evenings on the deck in Tahoe. Of course.

Trouble with eating healthily is that I have three boys to feed in this house, all of whom have ridiculous appetites, not to mention hollow legs, and one other girl, who is going through puberty, and dancing for four hours each day, and whose dietary requirements currently more closely resemble the boys' than I ever thought possible. Faced with a pile of vegetables, and nought else to munch on, I have no doubt that there would be rumblings, of discontent and hungry tummies. Nevertheless, I have found that satisfaction can be achieved provided there is bread on the table as well, and that the veggie-laced dish is tasty enough to hush those rumblings on contact. This dish more than fitted the bill last night.

The recipe is taken from Cooking Light (August 2012), and I stuck pretty much to the original, except that I added green zucchini/courgettes to the yellow squash to make it even more pretty and colorful, and increased the quantity of everything (did I mention the hollow legs?)

Tomato, Squash and Red Pepper Gratin
Serves 6 'healthy' appetites or 8 normal human beings

6 tsp olive oil, divided
2 chopped red onions
2 1/2 cups chopped red bell pepper
1 lb yellow squash, cut into 1/4" thick slices
1/2 lb zucchini/courgette, cut into 1/4" slices
1 1/2 TBSP minced garlic
1 cup cooked quinoa
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil, divided
2 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp salt, divided
3/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup reduced fat milk
5 oz aged Gruyere cheese, shredded/grated
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
2 1/2 oz of course breadcrumbs
2 beefsteak tomatoes, sliced into 8 slices each

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Heat 4 tsp of oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook for three minutes until translucent. Add bell pepper and cook for a further 2 minutes until becoming tender. Add squash and garlic and cook for 4 more minutes until squash is also becoming tender.
3. Place vegetable mixture in a large bowl and stir in quinoa, 1/2 cup basil, thyme, 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper.
4. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, remaining salt, cheese and milk with a whisk. Add mixture to bowl with vegetables and quinoa and stir to combine.
5. Spoon mixture into a large baking dish (mine is approximately 15" x 8") which is coated with cooking spray.
6. Add breadcrumbs and remaining oil to the skillet used to cook the vegetables and cook for three minutes until lightly toasted.
7. Arrange tomato slices over the vegetables in the baking dish, and then sprinkle toasted breadcrumbs evenly over the top.
8. Bake for 40 minutes or until topping is browned. Sprinkle with remaining basil before serving.