Growing, Eating

Although this constant rain has been unbearably dreary, it's doing wonders for my garden. I harvested two banana peppers, a bunch of green beans and lots of basil last night:

I had some veggies from the farmer's market kicking around in the fridge that needed to be used, so I decided to do a very veggie casserole:

It turned out so well that I can't resist posting the recipe so everyone can try it. I basically modified a recipe of Mollie Katzen's-- her recipe is here.

Here's my recipe:

Sara's Early Summer Casserole

Olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 banana peppers, diced
handful of green beans, diced
3 carrots, shredded
4 small zucchini or summer squashes, chopped
10 cremini mushrooms, chopped
handful of fresh basil, chopped
1 cup non-fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup shredded aged Gouda cheese
4-5 eggs
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
salt & pepper
paprika

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large skillet, add onion, garlic, peppers, green beans and carrots, saute in olive oil until just tender. Add zucchini, mushrooms, fresh basil and dried spices (minus the paprika), saute until flavors blend and mushrooms get a little soft, being careful not to dry out veggies. (Add more olive oil if needed) Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a bowl, mix together yogurt, eggs and cheese. Make sure all yolks are broken and eggs are thoroughly incorporated.

Remove veggies from heat and stir in yogurt mixture, coating veggies. The mix should be just a little runny. If too thick, add a little soy milk or regular milk to thin it out.

Pour mixture into a greased casserole dish and sprinkle top with a little paprika. Baked covered for 35 minutes, uncover and bake for 5 minutes more or until the mixture is "set". Give the dish a jiggle, and if it still looks runny, pop it back in the oven. You want to take it out when the sides of the dish are firm and the center is mostly firm.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Of course all of the veggies in my recipe are just what I had in the fridge and the garden-- this recipe is so versatile you can experiment with whatever you've got on hand. Try using different types of cheese or different dried spices! I suggest you look at Mollie's recipe for a more Mexican-flavored dish, or try your own flavor combinations!

Here's to much more delicious summer eating...