Weeknight Meals: A montage of Veggies

I find it difficult to make pretty looking food in the middle of the week.  Also, I’m in a bit of a rut at the moment because I’m tired of pasta, quinoa, and couscous.  I really don’t want any grains at the moment, so tonight I filled up on potato.  This dish showcases pretty much every cooking method- frying, sauteing, slow roasting, boiling, roasting..  It also has a billion things in it, topped with capers and olive oil FTW. For the potato- its of utmost importance that you use small potatoes, using one big one like i did will take forever to boil, but I had no others.

A note on boiled zucchini. Yes it sounds unappetizing, but its not, its delicious and fresh tasting. The first time I had it was in Sicily when Jon’s Aunt thought we might want a late night snack, so she boiled zucchini along with other greens, topped with some extra virgin olive oil and parmesan reggiano. She even made boiled veggies taste good. The marvels of Italian chefs!

Montage of Veggies featuring a Smashed Potato, slow roasted Tomato, roasted garlic, boiled Zucchini, Thai Eggplant, and fried Manouri
Serves 1

Bit of Zucchini
3-4 Mushrooms
Manouri
Cherry tomatoes
Capers
2-3 Thai Eggplants
Potato- 2-3 medium red skinned
Smoked Paprika
Fresh thyme
4 cloves garlic
3 slices of Facon
Olive oil
Spinach

Start by slow roasting cherry tomatoes. Halve all the little tomatoes and spread face up on a baking sheet, spray with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, basil, and pepper. Scatter garlic cloves throughout the tray, leaving their skins on!! Cook on 275 for an hour. Boil some water, throw your potatoes in and let cook.  Preheat oven to 400. In a frying pan, saute mushrooms in olive oil, cook on high until golden and set aside. Put a bit more olive oil in and cook quartered thai eggplant, season well. Skin the zucchini and boil some water and cook zucchini until transparent or soft. Once the potato is done, remove from the pan and place on a baking sheet, press down on it with a spatula so it bursts open, spray with olive oil and season well. Sprinkle the potato with smoked paprika and thyme, cook in the oven until the top of the potato is crisp and golden.

Arrange spinach on a plate, scatter eggplant, mushrooms, boiled zucchini, slow roasted tomato, roast garlic cloves (with out skins), potato, cooked facon, and capers on top. Fry the manouri in its own brine until golden and place over the dish.