Summer Squash: French(ish) Ratatouille and a Roasted Italian Vegetable Sandwich

Summer squash, two ways. The first, a Disney-inspired ratatouille that's easier to make than it looks (I promise). The second is an even simpler meatless sandwich that both vegetarians and meat-lovers will like.

French(ish) Ratatouille

one 8" round ceramic/glass casserole dish (or pie/cake pan)

olive oil

2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 cup of crushed tomatoes (preferably sodium free)

2 medium yellow summer squash

2 medium zucchini

6 roma tomatoes

Preheat your oven to 375*F. Lightly grease your casserole dish with olive oil.

Combine the crushed tomatoes with the salt, oregano, rosemary, and garlic. Pour into and spread to coat the prepared casserole dish. 

Carefully use a mandolin or sharp knife to cut the yellow squash and zucchini into thin slices (as thinly as possible - they don't have to be perfect!). Use a sharp, serrated knife to thinly slice the tomatoes. 

Now for the fun part - arrange the slices of squash and tomatoes into the casserole dish, layering from the outside in. After layering, lightly drizzle olive oil over the squash and tomatoes. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork tender but still al dente.

*Feel free to throw in eggplant slices, too

Roasted Italian Vegetable Sandwich

1 medium sized eggplant

1 yellow summer squash

1 zucchini

1 red bell pepper

olive oil

salt & pepper

balsamic vinegar (I didn't have any and used Worcestershire instead)

hummus

slices of olive bread, toasted

Preheat your oven to 425*F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil.

Slice the eggplant, yellow squash, and zucchini lengthwise, into 1/4-inch thick slices. Lightly coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the vegetables onto the baking sheets - don't let the vegetables overlap too much or else they'll steam instead of roast. Bake for 20-30 minutes (flipping midway), or until golden brown.

Turn your oven off and your broiler on. (You may need to use oven mitts for this:) Make sure one oven rack is positioned at the highest level. Place your bell pepper on a baking sheet, directly under the broiler. Keep an eye on your bell pepper, turning it with tongs to char all four sides (less than 1-2 minutes per side!). When the bell pepper has been charred, remove it from the oven and wrap it in foil for 10 minutes. 

After 10 minutes, unwrap the foil and peel away the charred skin of the bell pepper. Remove the seeds/core and thinly slice the bell pepper. 

To assemble the sandwich: generously layer hummus on both sandwich slices. Add a slice of roasted eggplant above one slice, and drizzle balsamic vinegar over it. Layer the yellow squash, zucchini, and bell peppers on top.