Thursday, June 21, 2007
This entry of Shop Green launches a new feature to help you enjoy locally-grown, organic food: cookbook reviews and seasonal recipes.
"Quick-Fix Vegetarian" serves up 150 simple but tasty vegetarian dishes that can be prepared in "less time than it takes to have a pizza delivered."
Written by best-selling vegetarian chef Robin Robertson, "Quick-Fix Vegetarian" offers such recipes as spinach and sun-dried tomato quesadillas, chipotle-kissed black bean soup, Beat-the-Clock lasagna, five-minute slow-cooker chili, and one my family loved, mixed baby greens with pears, pecans and polenta strips. We're trying this next:
Zucchini and pesto strata
Serves 4
1/2 cup basil pesto (store bought or made from garden-fresh basil)
1 cup canned white beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable broth
4 cups cubed day-old French or Italian bread, crusts removed
1 1/2 pounds zucchini, trimmed and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ripe plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 roasted red bell pepper, bottled or homemade, chopped
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, combine the pesto, beans, and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Blend until smooth. Add the broth and process until well blended. Set aside.
Spread about 2/3 of the bread cubes in the bottom of a lightly oiled gratin or baking dish. Layer half of the zucchini slices on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon about half the pesto sauce onto the zucchini. Top with half of the tomato slices.
Sprinkle the chopped roasted red pepper over the tomato slices and season with salt and pepper. Top with a layer of the remaining zucchini slices. Season with salt and pepper and top with remaining pesto, followed by remaining tomato slices.
Top with remaining bread and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cover tightly and bake until the vegetables are tender and bubbly about 30 minutes.
Remove the lid and bake until the top is lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
What works for you?
Got any favorite recipes or cookbooks you'd like to share? Green Purse Alerts! subscriber Susan recommends "The Little Vegan Monsters' Cookbook: More than 200 Delicious Vegan Recipes: Many Wheat-Free and Gluten-Free" by Anthony W. Acock and Lourdes E. Cañas-Jovel (New Haven: Little Vegan Monsters LLC, 2007). $19.95 paperback. 202 pages.
You can find more great cookbooks on our sister site, The World Women Want.com.
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