Ratatouille a la "Ratatouille"

When Evie was about 16 months old, she saw her first movie.  It was a morning with an early wake up, and Nico turned on the tv in our room so she could watch something and we could keep our eyes closed a few minutes longer.   He found Pixar's Ratatouille.  I was not pleased, because I had been saying all along, "we will NOT let our kids get sucked into all things Disney!"   But when I saw how adorable this movie was, I decided Pixar was ok.   (We are now owned by the Disney Princess machine.  It found us and we are in it.) 

Since she first saw the movie, Evie has been in love with all things cooking and Paris.  She sees an image of the Eiffel Tower somewhere and she screams, "Mama! Paris!"  I love it and can't wait to bring her to Paris someday.  She also loves helping me in the kitchen, or cooking a meal for me at her little wooden kitchen set.  She also called the movie "Tooey" for the longest time.   The adults in the house still call it Tooey. 

I knew it was only a matter of time before she asked me to make ratatouille for her.   I honestly didn't think it would be 3 years later.  But a few weeks ago, she asked.   I told her that of course I'd make it and she could help.  I decided against telling her what was in it until the time came.  I knew this amount of vegetables would not be her thing.   

She helped me make the sauce, and slice the vegetables for the main part of the dish.  She was curious about eggplant because she had never seen it before.  She snacked on some red peppers while the sauce simmered.   When the dish came out of the oven, she insisted that I plate hers exactly like in the movie. (Which I sort of guessed on.  I remembered the sauce going around the main component of the dish so that was what I did.)   She did not want the cous-cous that I made to go with it. 

The final verdict from the four year old was a resounding, "no!"  But Nico and I loved it.  I had enough  vegetables to make two casserole dishes.   A girl from the neighborhood was over our house playing and she loved it.  Between her, Nico and I, we finished one dish and the second was great for lunch the next day.

I think it was a success.  It was more work than I anticipated this simple dish to be.   But even though it was more steps than I'd cared for, it came together rather quickly, I thought.   So easy, a rat could do it.

Ratatouille (a la Ratatouille)
for this dish I adapted from Thomas Keller's Confit Byaldi (which was the actual inspiration for the animated version that appeared in the film) and from smitten kitchen for the addition of cous cous and goat cheese.   Yum! 

For the Piperade
1/2 red pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 yellow pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 orange pepper, seeds and ribs removed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely diced, juices reserved
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
kosher salt

For the vegetables, all sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
1 zucchini
1 eggplant
1 yellow squash
1 red pepper, seeds and ribs removed
4 Roma tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/8 teaspoon thyme leaves
Kosher salt
ground black pepper

For the vinaigrette
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
minced fresh chervil and thyme
kosher salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place pepper halves on piece of foil, cut side down.  Roast until skins loosen, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let rest until cool enough to handle.  (Tip: I place my roasted peppers in a ziplock bag to help the skins release from the pepper.) After cooled and peeled, chop the peppers finely.

Combine oil, garlic and onion in a medium sauté pan over low heat and cook until soft but not browned.  Add tomatoes, juices, thyme and parsley sprigs, and bay leaf.  Simmer over low heat until soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes.   Add peppers and simmer to soften.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, discard the herbs.   At this point, I decided to toss the whole mixture into a the food processor, although Thomas Keller did not.   Process until smooth.   Reserve 1 tablespoon of the sauce and spread the remainder in the bottom of an 8 inch casserole dish or oven proof skillet.

Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees.  Arrange the vegetable slices in a concentric circle over the piperade, alternating slices and overlapping the slices.  Repeat until the pan is filled.  I did not use all the vegetable slices.

Mix garlic, oil, and thyme leaves in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle over vegetables.   Cover the pan with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit your pan.  Bake until vegetables are tender, about an hour and a half.  Uncover and bake 30 minutes more.     If you want the dish to be a little browned, place under the broiler briefly.   I did not need to do this.

Mix the vinaigrette in a separate bowl by combining the reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, herbs, salt and ppepper.  

Serve the ratatouille with a drizzle of vinaigrette.  A bed of cous cous and a pinch of goat cheese are a delightful accompaniment.

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Summer Vegetable Quinoa

There's not much I can say about this dish, besides how insanely good it was.  I thought I'd made enough to last me the week for lunch.  But as it turned out, every time I went back for another spoonful, I really only got 3 servings out of it.

The day I made it, I had it for dinner.  My kids were not feeling it that night.  I let them off the hook and gave them something a little more kid friendly.   I was kind of glad.  Once I took the first bite, I was immediately glad I wasn't sharing.

The different vegetables all lent a different texture.  The crisp pop of the corn; the soft, sweetness of the tomato; and the delicate notes of the zucchini; tossed together with a lemon herb vinaigrette and the bite of the quinoa and the zing from the tangy feta.   Just writing about this makes me want to go downstairs and make it again.  

Summer Vegetable Quinoa
recipe mildly adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

For the vinaigrette:

Juice of 2 lemons

2 cloves of garlic, minced

salt and pepper

6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

For the vegetable sauté:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 small zucchini, diced
2 ears corn, off the cob (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 green onions, finely diced
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped basil
2 tablespoons chopped chives
salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine all the vinaigrette ingredients with a whisk.  Set aside.

In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and sauté for 30 minute,s until browned.   Add zucchini, corn, green onions and cook until tender, about 4 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add cooked quinoa, vinaigrette and toss to combine.

Add tomatoes, feta, and basil to the pan.  Stir well and add more salt and pepper if needed.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.  The feta will melt into the warm dish and make it super creamy.   I also sprinkled a little extra feta over mine with each serving.


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Broccoli and Cheese Quinoa Casserole

What kid doesn't love macaroni and cheese?  Mine love it and when I throw broccoli into it, they never seem to complain.  But while we are not 100% gluten-free in this house, we have significantly reduced the amount of glutens we consume.   I thought this quinoa casserole would be a great substitute for classic macaroni and cheese.

I made it one week when Nico was traveling, and it was just me and the kids.   I wasn't sure if it was going to be a hit or not.   Instead of calling it "broccoli and cheese quinoa casserole", I told the kids we were having "cheese-y goodness" for dinner.   It was not a lie.  This was so delicious.  I had been worried it would not pass in our house.  Instead the night Nico came home from his trip, I made it again.

Evelyn and William were a little skeptical of it, but after some convincing, they did eat it.  I didn't get a good read on if they loved it or not, but I did.   And it'll be a keeper in our dinner repertoire.

One element of this recipe I loved was finally finding a good "cream of" recipe.  I don't like casseroles that call for a can of cream of anything soup.  I don't like buying processed anything, much less soups.  Soups are too easy for me to make myself.  The blog where I found this recipe included a quick and simple substitute for cream of soups.    Which made this side dish 100% gluten free.

Broccoli & Cheese Quinoa Casserole
recipe courtesy of Eating Well, Living Thin

For the "cream of" soup:
1 cup cold milk
1tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon (or vegetable bouillon for vegetarian)
salt and pepper to taste

In a small saucepan, whisk milk and cornstarch until well blended.  Stir in butter, bouillon, salt and pepper.  Heat to a boil, stirring frequently.  Simmer for one minute, until thick.

At this point you can add whatever ingredient you want to make it whatever cream of you want it to be.  Such as sauteed, diced mushrooms (cream of mushroom), 1/2 cup cooked, diced chicken pieces (cream of chicken), 1/2 cup sauteed, minced celery (cream of celery), 1/2 cup steamed, diced broccoli (cream of broccoli).  I didn't add anything and used this as is since I was adding broccoli to the casserole.

For the casserole:
1 recipe "cream of" soup
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups steamed, chopped broccoli
3/4 cup quinoa
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Rince the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve until water runs clear.  In a small saucepan, combine quinoa, water and a dash of salt.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook 18-20 minutes until fluffy.  Fluff with a fork.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a shallow casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, milk, shredded cheese, and pepper.  Stir in the quinoa and broccoli.  Transfer to prepared casserole dish.  Sprinkle on the parmesan cheese and bake for 35-40 minutes (or 20-25 minutes if using individual ramekins) until golden and bubbling.

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