A Summer Veggie Special

Summer came early this year, perhaps as a reward to offset our anxiety over the war in Iraq, the state of the economy, and the political season that lies ahead. That has meant a bonanza of fruits and vegetables arriving at every market, pressing us to think ahead to summer time pleasures.

We are not vegetarians, but we are very fond of vegetables, particularly vegetables eaten at the peak of perfection, in their season. When the veggies are coming in, glossy and glorious, we sometimes abandon all pretense of finding a main course for them to accompany and simply have a veggie dinner.

After years of drooling over the best of the vegetarian cookbooks (I am particularly fond of Deborah Madison, Crescent Dragonwagon, and all of Moosewood), we have a few standards. Last night we had two of our favorites, a kind of Ratatouille Casserole and Corn on the Cob.

Ratatouille Casserole

The casserole lends itself to endless variations, depending on whether you'd like to serve it as a side dish or -- as last night -- as a main course. You start out by peeling, halving, and thinly slicing an onion or two and softening it to a golden brown in a few tablespoonfuls of olive oil. Then add as many sliced cloves of garlic as you like (for a 9x13 casserole, we usually use two large onions and 4 cloves of garlic), add salt and freshly ground black pepper, and a spoonful of thyme) and cook till everything is golden brown.

In the meantime slice 2 or 3 zucchini (and/or yellow summer squash), a small eggplant or two (peel it if you like, we do), 6 plum tomatoes, and anything else you'd like. Sometimes we add sliced sweet or mildly spicy peppers, chopped herbs (parsley, chives, basil), very thinly sliced fennel bulb, or other vegetables.

Spray a casserole and layer the vegetables, starting with the eggplant. (Sometimes, if we want this to be more substantial, we add a layer of sliced, peeled potatoes as the bottom layler.). We usually alternate vegetables, sprinkling the sauteed onions, handfuls of grated Romano or Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and chopped herbs betwee layers. The tomatoes should go into the casserole in two layers, one in the middle and one on top. We usually put a good sprinkling of cheese on top, too. If it's dinner we may also put about eight ounces of shredded Mozzarella cheese into the layers.

Everything gets baked in a 350 oven for about 40 minutes.

This is, of course, amazingly versatile. You can add other vegetables, layer in slivers of ham or leftover roasted meat, or add spoonfuls of Ricotta cheese (we mix it with an egg, chopped parsley, and salt and pepper before dolopping it between the layers of vegetables). You can bake it in individual casseroles for a lunch or side dish. We've made it southwestern with chiles and cumin and oregano, too.

The corn requires nothing but being very fresh and as lightly cooked as possible. Our secret is to put the husked corn into a pot of briskly boiling water, cover it, and turn it off. We come back five or ten minutes later (it could wait 30) and take the corn to the table for a bath of butter and a sprinkling of peppe.

Fruit Crisp

If there's time, the perfect ending to a veggie dinner is baked fresh fruit. You can do this to many kinds of fruit, from the blueberries and peaches of summer to peeled, sliced apples and pears in wintertime. Just fill a buttered casserole with fruit (mixed with sugar if it's tart, seasoning to taste -- we like a grind of nutmeg on many things). Then put a stick of butter in the food processor with a cup of brown sugar and a cup of flour, and a teaspon of lemon zest. Pulse to coarse meal and spoon over the fruit. Thirty minutes in a 350 degree oven (while you're eating the main course) and you'll be carrying a perfect fruit crisp to the table. Or you can make it before-hand and serve it warm or at room temperature.