Saturday, July 31, 2010

Grilled Ratatouille And Shrimp

The other day we were watching “Boy Meets Grill” and Bobby Flay made a grilled ratatouille that looked delicious, to which Bev commented “we should make that.” I asked and she advised she’d just been to the veggie market and had all of the ingredients he used. Here’s his recipe:

2 zucchini, cut into quarters lengthwise
2 yellow squash, cut into quarters lengthwise
2 Japanese eggplant, halved lengthwise
2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and quartered
2 yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and quartered
2 red onions, quartered
1 pint cherry tomatoes
½ cup olive oil, plus 2 tbsp
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

Preheat grill to medium-high.

Place all cut vegetables and the tomatoes in a large shallow baking dish, add the 1/2 cup of olive oil, and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Place the vegetables on the grill and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time. Remove the tomatoes, cover grill, and cook the remaining vegetables for 2 minutes, or until almost cooked through. Transfer vegetables to a cutting board and coarsely chop (leave tomatoes whole). Place the chopped vegetables and tomatoes in a large bowl, add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, oregano and parsley and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve at room temperature.

We followed his grilling recipe, except used our paste tomatoes. For the dressing Bev added some extra garlic and decided some kalamata olives and grated romano cheese would be an improvement - and it was.


The veggies about ready to come off the grill - I got the eggplant a little too done.


He cooked his with lamb, but we decided on shrimp and I just made extra of the dressing and brushed it on the shrimp along with some salt, pepper and a little lemon.


All and all a pretty good dinner.

While I was prepping some tomatoes yesterday afternoon, I was watching Tyler Florence make chicken fried steak and the next show to come on was Julia Child. After watching a few minutes, I couldn't help but wonder how far she'd get today on "The Next Food Network Star" - not very I suspect.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Larry

9 comments:

  1. All of those grilled vegetables look so good. Believe you'll find this on my table soon. We FINALLY have fresh Colorado veggies in our Farmer's Markets...just this week. Julia is my hero. Some folks say there wouldn't be a Food Network if she hadn't pioneered cooking on TV. If history were re-written and someone else had been that pioneer, hard to say how she would be accepted today. She's so unique I'd like to think she'd still be queen.

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  2. Wow, had not thought of that about Julia and you are probably right. Sad.

    I like the ratatouille, grilled is always better with veggies for me.

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  3. Oh MY... I just spent the morning making lists of what my wife wants me to cook.... grilled veggies were tops on her list.

    you will be seeing this on my Kansas backyard menu soon!

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  4. Nothing better than good, fresh grilled veggies..... What a healthy meal, Larry...

    Have a good weekend. We have some rain this morning --just a little.
    Betsy

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  5. You know, Julia probably wouldn't make it on the Food Network. She was all substance and no style. Did you see "Julie & Julia" the movie? Even my non-cooker husband liked it, and I learned a lot about dear Julia's life from the movie. But, sometimes I think we could all benefit from a bit more substance and less style, don't you think? That said, the Food Network guys can be entertaining.

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  6. OK, Larry. I have to disagree with you here. Julia was real. She made mistakes on camera and flubbed her lines with aplomb. But I have a feeling that you are just baiting us. Her knowledge of cooking was encyclopedic and she is responsible for the fact that so many of "our generation" are good cooks. By the way, I am voting for Aarti. LOL.

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  7. You're right, I don't think they would have thought she was cool enough.

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  8. Those grilled veggies look fabulous and I just happen to be swimming in squash and tomatoes. Love the addition of shrimp!

    I just read Julia Child's "My Life in Paris," and I love what a pioneer she was! Who would have thought that what she started would lead to today's shows?!

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  9. Larry, I apologize for my previous comment. It occured to me that what you were saying is that Julia would not make the cut in today's crazy food TV. You are right and that is sad.

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