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No, not that kind of roast! This kind of roast:
Ever since I saw Chef Dennis‘ Ratatouille Confite, I knew I had to make it. Yes, I know I’ve been on a roasted veggie kick lately, but with the wonderful variety of fresh vegetables available during the summer, how can I resist?
For my roasted veggie mix, I used heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, onion, and garlic. I drizzled this delicious chaos with extra virgin olive oil and fresh thyme and popped it into the oven until the aroma of roasted vegel practically wafted from the oven. I roasted so many vegetables that the eggplant needed its own pan:
You guys know how much I love sausage, so the addition of chicken sausage will not surprise you.
Great recipe, Chef Dennis!
After such a rich meal, a little dessert was called for:
Dessert was a sliced Paula Red apple with dabs of white chocolate peanut butter and dark chocolate peanut butter. The white chocolate peanut butter is courtesy of my food processor. The dark chocolate peanut butter is courtesy of this little gem:
Unsurprisingly, my milk chocolate-loving husb doesn’t like this peanut butter.
Let’s get a REALLY close look at this fab peanut butter:
Smear that on anything, and you’ve got a treat.
Remember the goji plant we bought back in April? Under Peter’s tender nurturing, the goji plant has borne fruit! And when I say fruit, I mean “fruit” in the singular.
Yes, that ONE goji berry is our harvest.
I tried to split the ONE goji berry with Peter – I think we ate 2 molecules each. I’ve eaten both dried and frozen goji berries before, but the fresh berry seemed milder in flavor (?) It’s hard to tell, since I think my bite of goji berry didn’t even make it past the tip of my tongue. I hope next year’s harvest is more … fruitful.
Have a nice weekend, everyone!
Q: Do you have a garden and/or indoor plants? What are you growing?
Who is my favorite sister? I’ll give you a hint: she’s extremely smart, loves good food, and lives west of the Mississippi. I wore her hand-me-downs (and hand-me-ups) when I was younger. I look forward to seeing her every Christmas. Lastly, her birthday is on August 13th.
Any guesses??
The answer(s) is in this picture!
I'm the pasty one on the left.
That’s right! Both of my sisters were born on August 13th … six years apart. When I was little, I remember wondering what it was like to share a birthday with my sister. Neither of them seemed to mind, but that nonchalance could have been due to their understanding personalities. Also, when I say that I wore their hand-me-downs AND hand-me-ups, I wasn’t kidding: Courtney is younger than me, but she’s been taller than me since she was about 10 years old. Yeah, I feel … short 
So! In honor of BOTH of my sisters’ birthdays, I made some special grub. I hope to whet their appetites so that they’ll be looking forward to when I can actually make them a birthday meal.
First up: tacos! When we were growing up, my older sister D would always request tacos for dinner. I always looked forward to tacos, too, especially those little bowls of taco toppings.
D’s Birthday Tacos
Ingredients:
1/2 Tbsp veggie oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 hot pepper (jalapeno, etc.)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup beer (!)
6 – 8 oz. of some sort of protein. We didn’t have beef, so I defrosted and crumbled up a couple of veggie burgers. Beans, tofu, chicken, even tuna would also suffice. Note un: If you use a veggie burger as your protein, make sure you actually like the taste of it. Because I didn’t.
Salt and pepper.
3 – 4 tortillas or taco shells
Toppings:
Lettuce and tomato
Cheese
Salsa
Guacamole
etc.
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft and translucent.
While the onion is sauteing, roast your hot pepper. You can roast the pepper by broiling it in an oven or toaster oven until the outside blackens. If you’re like me and you don’t want to turn on the oven in the middle of summer to roast a tiny little pepper, you can use this handy device:
Or, if you have a gas stove, just use heat-safe tongs to hold the pepper in the flames. Be careful, of course.
When the pepper is cool, peel off the skin, mince, and add to the onion along with the minced garlic and protein (crumbled veggie burgers here). Saute for one minute.
Add tomato paste and heat through. Pour in beer and use a spoon to scape all the tasty bits off the bottom (deglaze). Lastly, add salt and pepper to taste. Note deux: If you are using veggie burgers as your protein, you may wish to exclude the salt, as veggie burgers tend to be very high in sodium.
Prepare the rest of your fixin’s. Preparing the taco toppings was always my favorite part. Well, specifically this part:
That would be a delectable smoked cheese from Sugarbush Farm in Vermont. Most of the cheese made it in the tacos and not in my mouth, I swear.
Shredded.
As I alluded to before, I wasn’t crazy about the veggie burgers I chose for the taco filling, but if I had used some other protein the filling would have been EPIC! The beer was a nice extra
Now, I DO have another sister. One who happens to be a Master Gardener. You’ve previously met Courtney in this guest post, and I’m sure you’ll agree that you just can’t get enough of her! In honor of her green thumb, I decided to have a simple heirloom tomato and wax bean side “salad”.
I prepared the tomato by slicing it and sprinkling it with a little sugar. Before you explode on me, I just want to clarify that yes, I PREFER tomatoes best with their natural sweetness and no additional enhancement. However, sugar on tomatoes is a common simple dish that I enjoyed in China and wanted to recreate at home. While I won’t be sweetening my tomatoes often, a little sugar was a nice treat for a special occasion. Even if that special occasion isn’t technically my OWN birthday.
Lastly, a peanut butter mousse cake to finish the birthday dinner:
Preparing the chocolate ganache, made from 1/4 cup heated cream poured over 2.5 ounces chocolate, then stirred until the chocolate melts:
Peter spreading ganache over the frozen mousse cake:
Happy Birthday to my favorite sisterS in the whole wide world! I cant wait to see you both soon! 
Love,
Jessie
… to have salad and chocolate cake for dinner – sometimes!
So says well-read Jessie.
Case in point:
After a long morning of browsing the stacks at a library book sale (see above) and a very late lunch, I had a hard time even THINKING about dinner. I decided to eat what my body was craving at dinnertime: an enormous bowl of veggies with egg.
I steamed some carrots and threw them over a bed of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red peppers (fresh from our deck!), then topped the veggies with a poached egg and Amy’s Goddess dressing. I must have been deficient in micronutrients because I felt much better after eating this salad (I also need to empty the fridge of perishables). Lately I haven’t been taking advantage of summer’s fresh fruits and veggies, which is silly. We need to eat vitamin-rich fruits and veggies every 4 to 6 hours to take advantage of their antioxidant properties, so I will be making more of an effort to include these nutrient powerhouses in my diet.
That said, I knew I had to try a little of the chocolate cake we bought yesterday for dessert. This chocolate cake is from Billy’s Bakery in Fairfield, CT and it is the most decadent mousse cake I’ve ever eaten.
Look at that glassy ganache frosting!
You gotta really like chocolate to enjoy this cake. A little goes a loooong way. While I won’t make a regular habit of veggies and chocolate cake for dessert, it was a nice treat.
Hmm, these food pictures are pretty disappointing: no natural light, the glare of overhead 60 watts apparent. Let’s look at some gorgeous island pictures instead:
Q: Do you get your 5 A Day? How do you incorporate fruits and veggies in your meals and snacks?
Guess what guys! Exactly six months ago, I wrote my very first post on The Happiness in Health! Check out my first post here (nice job changing the default website address, Jessie).
How to celebrate? How about some Black Forest Oatmeal?
Hot oatmeal with fresh cherries and chocolate chips. And walnuts and shredded coconut, just ’cause. No liquor, of course. Hey, just because I ate a liquor-soaked breakfast once doesn’t mean I’m going to have it again. Goodness, people.
Cherries are in season here in the Northeast U.S. until the end of August, so check out your local Farmers’ Market for cherries and other great fresh fruits and veggies. If you live in the United States, visit Local Harvest to find your local Farmers’ Markets, farmstands, CSA, etc. For those of you with kids, take a look at the Captain 5 A Day website for some fun fruit and veggie games and activities. (Incidentally, Captain 5 A Day was created through a collaboration between my university and the Connecticut Department of Health – so I may be a little biased 
).
Have a great weekend, everyone!
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