Ratatouille

RATATOUILLE
Ratatouille is just exactly what the dictionary says it is: stewed vegetables, usually eggplant, onion, tomato, zucchini and garlic sautéed in olive oil. Bell peppers are often used as well. This is a good summer meal if you have a garden. Ratatouille really tastes better with fresh ingredients. Quantities of each ingredient do not matter too much and can suit the cook or whomever he is trying to please!

The vegetables are washed, peeled, cut, and put into the sauté pan on medium low heat in this order:

1. Olive oil - 3 - 4 tablespoons - add more if it gets absorbed

2. Onions and garlic (diced)

3. Eggplant (peeled and cut into 1/2” cubes) Bell peppers would go in at this point.

4. Zucchini (cut off ends and slice into quarter inch pieces – zucchini no larger than about six inches work best)

5. Tomato - It is not necessary to peel the tomatoes, but a hot water bath for about 45 seconds to one minute will enable you to slip the skins.

Sprinkle on little salt and pepper and chopped, fresh basil if you have it.

When all of the vegetables are cooked through, sprinkle a little mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and a few seasoned bread crumbs (optional) over the mixture and put it in the oven for about 25 minutes at 350°. If your sauté pan cannot go into the oven, transfer the vegetables to a glass casserole first.



The means are the end in the making. Gandhi

SUMMER SQUASH RATATOUILLE

Ingredients:
Onion, minced
Garlic, minced
Green and yellow squash, cut in cubes
Yellow or green chili pepper, diced
Tomato, sliced or chopped
Fresh herbs, especially basil
Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
Mozzarella cheese, grated
Seasoned bread crumbs
Olive oil
Procedures:
1. Use a large skillet to sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft
2. Add the cubed squash and diced green chilies to the onion/garlic mixture. Add more olive oil and some salt and pepper.
3. Sauté until the vegetables are slightly cooked.
4. Remove from heat and add cheeses. Toss lightly to mix cheeses with the vegetables.
5. Layer chopped or sliced tomatoes and chopped fresh herbs over the vegetables and sprinkle with seasoned bread crumbs.
6. Put in a 350 oven and heat for about 25 minutes. This is just long enough for the cheeses to melt and the tomatoes to cook slightly.
This make a good side dish or a great lunch all by itself.

Put a grain of boldness into everything you do.
Baltasar Gracian

Real Food Menu Ideas

 Introduction

If you don’t eat want to eat from the menu that has been coming at you for your whole life through advertising, your own history or what’s on grocery shelves, it is easy to get stuck on occasion and not be able to think of what to fix. Most of us have been programmed to think in terms of a merry-go-round of pizza, spaghetti, deep fried food, and sandwiches. These are the eating solutions for people without time to cook, and they are engineered to be cheap, fast, and hyper-palatable. When you attempt to abandon those things, it’s easy to get frustrated. Sometimes simple fatigue gets in the way of thinking about what to eat.

These menu ideas are predicated on several ideas that run counter to common wisdom – namely the low fat, low calorie, low salt and low cholesterol advice. These recipes use fats generously; they use grains and legumes sparingly; they use very few processed or packaged products, and they assume that you want to use no seed oils, no added sugar, and no wheat flour. 

The menus are organized to use the same grocery list throughout the week. There are four rather than seven days listed for two reasons: one is to allow for some meals eaten out (take-out or restaurants) and the other is to allow for using up leftovers.The cooking can be spaced in any way that fits your schedule.

Where to find the time to cook? There are a couple of possibilities. One is to batch cook on the weekends or whenever you have a larger than normal chunk of time. The other is to delete something else from your schedule, if possible. A third possibility is to enlist more people to help and share the joy of cooking!

A Very Brief List of Books and Podcasts

     

Books	Podcasts
Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz *	Livin’ La Vida Low Carb by Jimmy Moore
Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes *	The Sane Show by Jonathan Bailor
Fat Chance by Robert Lustig *	Dishing Up Nutrition by Darlene Kvist
Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan *	Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
The Great Cholesterol Myth by Sinatra and Bowden *	Good Food Eating by Jedha Dening
Grain Brain by David Perlmutter	Revolution Health Radio by Chris Kresser
Wheat Belly by William Davis	Fat Burning Man by Abel James

*These are reviewed on The Mike and Susan Reading List.

 

Real Food Menu Ideas - Example 1

Breakfast	Green Smoothie: Chard, spinach, banana, canned coconut milk, berries, nut butter	Uncured bacon Scrambled eggs	Kale/Mushroom Quiche	Twice baked potatoes
Lunch	Green Salad with Smoked trout, cucumber, tomato, carrots, apple and dressing	Turkey tacos with Anaheim peppers and garlic Garnish with cheese, avocado, tomato and salsa (Rice optional)	Turkey Vegetable soup	Turkey Vegetable or Greens/Leek soup
Dinner	Roast turkey with vegetables After roasting 1 ½ hours, put an onion or two in the cavity and place potatoes and carrots around turkey.	Greens and Leek soup	Baked Potato Bar with ground beef, grated cheese, butter, sour cream, salsa, chives	Shish kabobs with shrimp, (steak) and veggies
Groceries	Eggs/Meat/Cheese	Produce	Staples	Spices
	10 – 12 pound turkey 1 pound ground beef  1 ½ pounds Shrimp 1 pound Steak 2 cans smoked trout Cheddar/Swiss/Goat cheese Eggs Uncured Bacon	Chard, Kale, spinach, red leaf lettuce, Tomatoes, Berries, Cucumber, Apple Avocado, Mushrooms Potatoes, russet and red Broccoli, Carrots, Onions,  leeks, Peas, Anaheim and bell peppers, bananas, garlic,	Sour cream Butter Nut butter Corn tortillas Coconut/almond milk OR half and half Olive oil Balsamic vinegar Mustard Rice Tahini	Chives Basil Chili Powder or flakes Salt Pepper Worcestershire or tamari Salsa

Real Food Menu Ideas – Example 2

Breakfast	Eggs and Sausage	Chia Pancakes with Berries	Tomato Basil Quiche	Oat Nut Breakfast Bars
Lunch	Potato Soup	No Pasta Lasagna	White Bean Chili	Grilled Fish with Green Salad
Dinner	Roast Pork with Vegetables	No-Stir Fry with Pork	Pizza with cauliflower crust	Ratatouille
Groceries	Eggs/Meat/Cheese	Produce	Staples	Spices and Herbs
	1 pound breakfast sausage 4 – 5 pound pork roast 1 ½ pound grounds beef OR Ricotta, Mozzarella, Parmesan Cheeses 1 ½  pounds fish 1 pound chicken, fresh or canned  Eggs Monterey Jack cheese	Corn, fresh or frozen Artichoke hearts, canned or frozen Onion Potatoes Summer squash, 4 + pounds Greens: chard, spinach, lettuce Leeks Broccoli Carrots Parsnips Eggplant Tomatoes, 6 large or 10 medium Poblano or Anaheim pepper Berries, fresh or frozen Cauliflower Bell peppers	Butter Olive oil Corn starch Tamari Half and half OR Almond/coconut milk Marinara sauce, canned or homemade Chia seeds Buckwheat groats Navy beans Diced green chilies, canned Cashews Peanut or almond butter Dried cranberries Honey Rolled oats	Salt Pepper Garlic Chives Chili powder Basil Vanilla Cinnamon Cardamom Bouillon Italian seasoning blend Nutmeg Cloves

 


These plans should feed four people quite easily.