Sunday Supper from the Garden

Here is my first zucchini — in all her gorgeous green glory. My summer squash plant is growing like crazy, but not producing any veggies. Tall Jill investigated the situation and recommended I add Epson salt to my water — which will add calcium to the soil. Within days this little beauty started to grow.

On the menu tonight and fresh from the garden: roasted zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes topped with sweet basil.

Sweet basil, yellow cherry tomatoes, Japanese eggplant and zucchini

PS. Check out this gorgeous recipe from Food and Wine for a tomato, eggplant, zucchini and bread gratin. Looks delicious. I will definitely be trying this next time.


Crisp Tomato, Zucchini and Eggplant Bread Gratin

      1/2 medium eggplant, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick 
      1 medium zucchini or yellow squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick 
      Kosher salt 
      6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
      4 garlic cloves, minced or mashed 
      One 14-ounce loaf rustic white bread, crusts removed and bread sliced 1/2 inch thick 
      Freshly ground pepper

      1/2 cup torn basil leaves 
      3 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
      1 teaspoon thyme leaves  

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a colander, toss the eggplant and zucchini with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and let stand for 20 minutes. Drain well and gently squeeze out any excess liquid.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir the olive oil with the garlic. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the garlic-infused oil. Tear the bread into 2-inch pieces and line the bottom of the baking dish with bread, fitting the pieces tightly together. Drizzle the bread with 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the bread with half of the basil.
3. In a medium bowl, toss the eggplant and zucchini with 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the tomato slices with salt and pepper. Arrange the eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes over the bread, overlapping them if necessary. Sprinkle with the thyme leaves, salt and pepper and drizzle with the remaining garlic oil.
4. Bake the gratin for about 40 minutes, until the vegetables begin to brown and the bottom of the bread is golden brown. Remove the vegetable gratin from the oven and let stand until cooled slightly, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining basil, cut into pieces and serve.

Make Ahead: The gratin can be baked up to 2 hours in advance. Reheat in a 350° oven or serve at room temperature.

Want your garden to grow? Just leave town.

I admit that every morning I go outside to see if something new has bloomed in my small garden plot. I check how tall things are getting, how healthy the leaves look. It's hard to see the many changes when you inspect it every hour. Apparently, if you want your garden to grow, you just need to leave town for a few days. We returned last night from a 5-day trip to Tennessee and I barely recognized the overgrown veggie garden in my backyard. There are blooms and fruit. These are some happy plants. Thanks so much to the fabulous Erica Brooks for keeping everything watered.

Japanese eggplant & cherry tomatoes

Bibb lettuce & spinach

Tomatoes, summer squash, winter squash, onions & beef steak tomato

Summer squash bloom

Bell pepper & Armenian cucumber