meatless mondays

i like vegetarian food not for any other reason than it tastes good. alright, there's that issue about energy conversion of meat based vs vegetarian diets. i first saw this in francis moore lappe's book and even heard her speak, so a meatless monday is the least i can do. enough chatter, the recipe i have chosen is a perennial favorite at my house and not all hard to make. roasting is an easy technique, if you have a convection oven all the better. otherwise, if the vegetables get limp before they show some color, pop the pan under the broiler for a minute or two.

roasted vegetable ratatouille

3 small zucchini
3 small yellow squash
1 medium italian eggplant or 3 asian eggplants
1 red pepper
1 red onion
1 head of garlic(5-10 cloves)
3 medium tomatoes
olive oil, salt and pepper
fresh basil, thyme, oregano

• dice all vegetables into 1-2 inch chunks, and clean garlic but leave cloves whole
• keep vegetables separate due to differing cooking times and consistencies
• preheat oven to 450 F, yeah, that's hot, but you won't be cooking them that long
• combine squash and zucchini with 1 tbsp. olive oil and salt and pepper to taste
• lay evenly on a sheet pan and pop in the oven, roast for 10-20 minutes or until crisp/tender and slightly browned, reserve to 3 qt cooking vessel
• on the same pan roasted the eggplant(combined with olive oil and s/p) a little longer but to the same degree of doneness or maybe a little softer and throw it too in the cooking vessel
• finally roast the garlic , onions and red pepper and also reserve to cooking vessel
• reduce oven heat to 300 F and roast/dry the tomatoes until most of liquid is rendered and if possible evaporated, may take up to an hour or more.
• all the roasting can be done in succession on one pan or on 4 pans if you're in a hurry, just remember different thing cook for different times and at different temps.
• combine all the ingredients and add chopped fresh basil, thyme and oregano, serve over polenta or pasta if you wish, or chop the ingredients smaller(brunois) and spread on toasted bread