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| Healthy...and delicious!! An A+ in my book! |
The first time I saw the movie Ratatouille a few years ago, I was completely taken aback when they described ratatouille as “a peasant dish”. My mom made ratatouille all the time and we certainly weren’t peasants!! Our ratatouille wasn’t beautifully sliced and arranged on a plate for a food critic like in the movie (unless you counted us as food critics! In retrospect…). My mom cut up onions, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms, sautéed them, added some sauce, and we had a delicious and healthy dish. When I’m trying to eat healthier (which is all the time!) - especially when peppers, eggplant, and squash are in season, it’s a great, flavorful, healthy dish. I can eat it on top of whole grain pasta or plain, with a little low fat cheese sprinkled on top. When I was at the Mega Fruit Store all the produce I needed was on sale - the last of the season fresh local vegetables. Perfect for a hearty dish for dinner! I also found a really cool website - http://caloriecount.about.com where you can find out the nutrition information about your recipes, your favorite foods, and if they really are good for you. I’ve had a lot of fun this week checking out some of my favorite foods (and was extremely excited when they got an “A” rating…we’re not talking about those that got the ”D+” rating). I found it very gratifying when the Ratatouille recipe got an “A” (ok…so I’m a little bit of a high achiever-LOL), was very low in cholesterol, high in dietary fiber, very high in niacin, high in potassium, high in vitamin B6, and very high in vitamin C! Cool…I love it when that happens!!! It can also be made gluten-free for the GFE (Gluten Free Eater) so it’s great for everyone in the family!!
Hmmm….I wonder if they could make a movie about my Ratatouille???
As promised, here is my weekly Kosherfest 2011 awesome product installment. Enjoy!!
Shabtai Gourmet by Cinderella Sweets Bakery (GFE)
Last year when I went to Kosherfest I was blown away by the quality of the products from Shabtai Gourmet – and especially considering that they are gluten free (Hooray!!! They’re great for the GFE!!). The products are all gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, lactose-free, casein-free, corn-free, and 100% Kosher – but you’d never know it from their taste!! When I went to the Gluten Free Expo here in Chicago last May, I specifically looked for the Shabtai table to see what new products they had. This year at Kosherfest I wasn’t sure that they would let me near their booth because I had eaten so many samples last year!! (Oh no! She’s back…hide the YODELS!!). This year at Kosherfest, I spent some time talking to Cindy the owner of the company. She was incredibly nice and incredibly busy – her booth was extremely popular (no shock there!). I was so surprised, when a few weeks after Kosherfest I actually got a call from Cindy herself to discuss her products with me. Now that’s customer service. Cindy is charming and a pleasure to talk to. She is understandably passionate about her terrific products – and it didn’t hurt that I’m such a big fan!
My favorite product that Shabtai Gourmet makes is the Yodels. You can’t tell that they are gluten-free. They are that good. The cake is moist, the cream is perfect, and the chocolate…well it’s chocolate (all good)! They make wonderful bon bon’s, rainbow cakes, layer cakes, black and white cookies, awesome lace cookies (I had those at the Gluten-Free Expo), seven layer cakes, and Swiss cake rolls –YUM!!!! The most interesting product they had this year was gluten-free pie crusts. Pie crusts are notoriously hard to make even with gluten…without, it’s a “don’t attempt this at home” kind of thing. These were beautiful! While they are currently unavailable until Pesach, I was told by Cindy they may become available on their website after Pesach at a cost of around $14 for two.
Cindy and I are definitely going to be in touch (I hinted for a few samples…) and I’ll keep you posted. Shabtai Gourmet products can be found at some local grocery stores and online at www.shabtai-gourmet.com .
Ratatouille
I like to use a pasta sauce that has complimentary ingredients to the recipe. For this recipe try to find a pepper, garlic, or mushroom variety sauce.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed – or 2 frozen cubes minced garlic
1 large onion, large dice
2 medium eggplant, cut into ½ - ¾ inch cubes
3 large peppers, cut into ½ - ¾ inch pieces
2 large yellow squash (optional), cut into ¼ ths lengthwise
then cut into ½ - ¾ inch pieces
2 large zucchini, cut into ¼ ths lengthwise then cut into ½ - ¾ inch pieces
½ - ¾ pounds mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 32 ounce jars pasta sauce
Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until onion is soft and clear. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Serve warm sprinkled with your favorite cheese over pasta or plain. This can also be served as a cold appetizer, and can be frozen for later use.
All the healthy ingredients!
SO colorful!!
Large dice...
Onions, eggplant, squash & peppers!
SO pretty all together in the pan!
Add the sauce...almost done!
Add some healthy pasta and
you've got yourself a
fabulous (healthy) meal!!
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THANKS! LOVE, SHARON
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These recipes are for sole, personal use of visitors to Sharon Matten -Edible Experience Kosher Everyday. Edible Experience Kosher Everyday recipes are for your enjoyment but are not to be posted or reprinted without express permission from Sharon Matten. Thank you!!
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