Shrimp Ratatouille

This is my variation on a ratatouille.  I pretty much define ratatouille as a vegetable stew with a tomato sauce base.  Typically squash and eggplant are involved with other veggies, spices, and the tomato sauce.  For this variation I was lacking the eggplant but included shrimp and served it over rice with a dollop of hummus on top.

So the first step is to saute your base vegetables.  I used zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and garlic in a little olive oil until they were slightly browned and mostly softened (about 5-10 minutes).

Next I added the tomatoes.  I used canned diced tomatoes with the juice included.  Perhaps you would like to make your own sauce, or take a pre-made tomato sauce, but I find the caned variety do the trick when you add enough extra herbs/spices and the liquid cooks off.  

I added salt/pepper and thyme (and would have added oregano or marjoram had I had some) and allowed this mixture to stew for about 10 minutes before adding the shrimp and some frozen spinach.  

I let this stew for about 5 minutes until the shrimp were cooked completely.  You don't want to stew shrimp for too long because they'll end up getting tough and chewy, so add them right before you're ready to serve your dish.  I scooped this over some white basmati rice, but this is also typically a side dish in French cuisine, so without the shrimp this could go well with chicken, steak, or fish...just don't pair it with another stew because then you have too many competing sauces going on.  

Taco Bake

This is another recipe my mother used to make a lot.  It's fairly simple, but it's quite good thanks to the combination of flavors and textures.  It would probably be easy to make a vegetarian version of this.  I'd suggest a can of chopped tomatoes, zucchini, black or pinto beans, and any other vegetables you enjoy with Mexican flavors.  But for you meat-eaters out there, go for the ground beef.

Ingredients: 1.25 lbs ground beef, 1 can tomato sauce, 12 oz corn, 1 packet taco seasoning, 1/4 cup water, 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix (1 egg and milk for the corn muffin mix), 1 can French's french fried onions, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Start by browning the ground beef in a skillet.  Once cooked, drain most of the fat and add the packet of taco seasoning and water.  Add the corn and the can of tomato sauce and mix.  Once heated through, pour mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish.

Prepare the corn muffin mix according to package directions.  Mix in 1/2 can of the french fried onions.  Spoon atop the ground beef mixture in the casserole dish, creating a box around the center.  The corn muffin mix will expand as it bakes, so this technique should yield even cooking.

Bake for 20 minutes.  At this point, open the oven and sprinkle the remaining french fried onions and the shredded cheddar cheese on top.  Bake for another 2 minutes until the cheese melts.  Remove from the oven, scoop, and serve.