[waking up the blog a bit]

Well, August is almost over, which to me means summer is winding down. So sad. The current weather makes it seem a bit like fall, though; I'm hopeful we'll get back into more summery weather. That being said, how exciting is it to finally be getting tomatoes regularly! I, for one, have enjoyed what we've had during the three weeks of tomatoes: the little yellow cherry tomatoes, the big red salad tomatoes, and the roma tomatoes we got this week. I used the cherry and big reds for salads (OMG yum), and today made a wonderful sauce/ratatouille type deal with tomatoes, eggplant, and squash. My housemate ate it over eggs and I ate it by itself (topped with feta and kalamata olives). I'm thinking I might try to duplicate it when I get my 20# tomato share, at least with some of the tomatoes and maybe make some regular marinara and perhaps even some salsa with the remaining. We shall see. In any case, here is what I made today:

Summer Simmered Medly

1/2 red onion, cut into thin half moon slices
1 small-medium yellow squash
1/2 medium eggplant, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
10-12 roma tomatoes, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, pressed
8 basil leaves, chopped or torn
2T olive oil
kosher salt
red pepper flakes
juice of 1/2 lemon

Turn on heat under an 8 quart pot and pour in 1T of olive oil. Throw in onions, a couple pinchfulls of salt, and cook over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes. Salt helps draw out moisture and assists the carmelization process. Turn heat back down to low and start the carmelization process. Let onions cook for 15 minutes, checking in from time to time to make sure the onions are not burning.

Slice the squash into thin rounds and add to the pot. Add 1T of olive oil. Add a couple more pinchfulls of salt. Let cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Add eggplant cubes, a bit more salt, and let cook for 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes. Mix everything up and cover the pot. Let this mixture cook undisturbed for 5 minutes. Check on pot and stir contents, then add pressed garlic. Let cook undisturbed for 10 minutes.

Add chopped basil and stir. Let cook, covered, until desired consistency. Toward the end, add red pepper flakes to taste, a little more salt, and the juice of 1/2 lemon.

This can be eaten by itself, or on the starchy vehicle of your choice (pasta, rice, couscous, polenta). It is particularly good with a salty cheese on top and some pungent olives as well.