Provencal Summer Vegetable Bake

Monday, July 9, 2012 at 10:19pm ·

I made this today as I just happened to have fresh tomatoes, squash and eggplant from the store last night. It sort of tastes like scalloped potatoes except you have this wonderful squash and eggplant.  I didn't have herbes de Provence (nor had I ever heard of it) so I used a little basil, salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash Italian spices. (I do have a dish towel though that my daughter-in-law brought back to me from Provence, France.)  I used black beans as I was out of cannellini beans.  I also had no goat cheese so I used some cheddar cheese.  I added the Panko Japanese bread crumbs as my own special touch.  Also I didn't have the patience to line up all the vegetables like they did so I just layered everything on top of the beans and onions with the cheese and Panko Japanese bread crumbs on top. Next time though I will heat the cheese a little less than 15 minutes unless I use goat cheese.  This was so good and I have several meals ready to eat.  Btw, I didn't peal th eggplant or squash.  I only used zucchini as that's what I had on hand.  I love this dish and I'm sure it will be a regular summer dish at my house.  It's too bad I don't have a garden!

Makes: 4  servings  Prep:   30 mins Bake:  1 hr  400°F Cook:   11 mins 

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet onions
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 1/2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 large eggplant (about 1 pound), ends trimmed, halved lengthwise
• 3 large summer squash (combination of zucchini and yellow squash), ends trimmed
• 1/2 pound russet potatoes
• 3 plum tomatoes
• 4 ounces goat cheese

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees . Peel and halve onions; cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a largesaute pan over medium heat. Add onions and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in beans, 1/2 teaspoon of the herbes de Provence and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Pour mixture into bottom of a 9 x 13 oven-safe casserole.

2. Meanwhile, cut eggplant, squash, potatoes and tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices. (To speed things up, use afood processor fitted with a slicing blade or a mandoline.) Toss vegetables with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Arrange vegetables on top of onion-bean mixture in 1 layer; pack tightly.

3. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and crumble goat cheese on top. Bake 15 more minutes. Cool slightly and slice into 4 servings.

Tip:  Forget what you learned about salting eggplant.The theory is that it eliminates bitterness. But most varieties nowadays don't have that undesirable trait, so salting only serves to increase a dish's sodium level. Skip it.

Nutrition Facts  Servings Per Recipe 4

• Amount Per Serving  Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
• Calories 378
• Protein(gm)15
• Carbohydrate(gm)45
• Fat, total(gm)17
• Cholesterol(mg)13
• Saturated fat(gm)6
• Dietary Fiber, total(gm)12
• Sodium(mg)701    

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