A Good Meal Is Just a Phone Call Away

I love the produce aisles in the spring and summer. Right now they are filled with vine-ripe tomatoes, mangoes, cantaloupes, pears. I feel like buying everything and cooking a gigantic meal, and inviting everyone to have a bite, and laugh, drink, talk. This was my inspiration behind the idea of having a block party. We live at the end of the street, and most of the houses around ours have little kids whom Jack has easily befriended (it's amazing how kids do it). We have come to know some of our neighbors, and it happens that every afternoon around 5:30 a few of us come out in our front yards and let the little monkeys run, ride bikes, throw dirt, dig for worms, you get the picture. Jack always has to have a bath after play.


It was during one of the past couple of afternoons that Heather, one of my neighbors, and I decided to organize a block party. I am excited and I am already making lists of possible things to make. It will be glorious. [in case you haven't noticed, 'glorious' is one of my favorite words] Stay tuned. I will report every detail.
Inspired by the possibilities, I headed for the grocery store to see what they had. The zucchini, summer squash, and eggplant were on sale. I knew what to make immediately. The problem was that the recipe was in my father's head and there is a 7 hour difference with Albania. I could not call him at 1AM Albania time to ask how my father, the chef makes his finger-licking summer vegetable bake. So I waited until the next morning. The conversation went like this:

Me: "Alo!"
Dad: "O Pipo [my nickname], si je?" ("how are you")
...more personal exchanges...
Me: "Dad, can you tell me how you made the vegetable bake we had this past summer when I was there?"
Dad: "Which one?"
Me: "The one with the eggplant and zucchini and tomato sauce?"
Dad: "I don't know? Just mix the eggplant and the veggies with fresh tomato and garlic and bake."
Me: "Hmmm, that's not much help."
Dad: "Well, you should have watched me."

Indeed, I should have. He is a great cook. I did manage to figure it out though (I think), and I made my very own vegetable bake. It is delicious and light and so summery. The only downside is that we decided to have a picnic - the weather was perfect - and eating roasted vegetables and goat cheese salad in the park, on a too small blanket, is not very comfortable. But the food was good, the park was beautiful, and our little one loved it - not the veggies, the monkey bars.


Roasted Summer Vegetables and Beef*

Ingredients:

3 fresh tomatoes
6 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 lb stewing beef, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I buy the pre-cut package)
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1 summer squash, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1 potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

-Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray with non-stick spray a large, oven-safe baking dish.
-Boil a pot of water. Quickly put the tomatoes in for a few seconds and fish them out.
-The skin of the tomatoes should come off easily. After peeling, grate the tomatoes making sure to keep all the juices and seeds.
-Mix in the crushed garlic, half of the salt, and all of the sugar.
-In a skillet, heat the oil and add the beef to brown. Add the tomato mixture and cook for about 1 minute, scraping off the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
-In a large bowl mix all the vegetables along with the tomato sauce and beef.
-Pour everything into the baking dish; sprinkle with the remaining salt and a bit of black pepper, and cook covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes.
-Take the foil off, and cook for another 15-20 minutes uncovered, until the vegetables get golden tips.
-Test with a fork for doneness.

I served this with good crusty bread to soak up the yummy juices and a simple goat cheese salad.

*For a vegetarian version, you can also omit the beef.

Ju Bëftë Mirë!
-E.