The Value of a Mother-in-law

There are enough jokes about mothers-in-law floating around in our modern culture that one would think they have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I, however, am fortunate enough to have a mother-in-law who can really serve a purpose. She has proven her helpfulness and generosity multiple times since the day I married her younger son.

One such example was the day when we came home with the box of vegetables to find lots of zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant: none of which Rich will eat.

I understand Rich's reluctance to eat anything from the squash family. I was there on the disastrous evening when he ended his zucchini-eating career. We were not yet married, but I was already cooking for him pretty regularly. That night, I had made the Moosewood Cookbook's recipe for stuffed zucchini. It was delicious! Then we headed out to a street fair in New Haven. Not too far down Chapel Street, amidst the street stalls all smelling of ethnic foods...Indian, Thai, Middle-Eastern, Greek...Rich became violently ill. He ran down a side street and vomited profusely next to someone's car. Then he threw up in a garbage can. I started driving him home, but we had to stop at a rest area on I-95 so he could again get sick.

I ate the same thing he ate that night, so I'm quite sure that zucchini wasn't the problem. But I do know that the last thing down is the first thing up, and it can ruin your taste for that item for years. Maybe for the rest of your life. This is why I still do not drink tequila. Or bourbon, for that matter.

My mother-in-law, understanding the predicament of having too many vegetables and too few people to eat them, suggested we make ratatouille, and she promised to help eat it. As you can see from the photo, we also had a green pepper, a tomato, a sweet onion, some garlic and a head of parsley to use in this endeavor.

We looked at the recipes on the Fort Hill Farm website for some guidance, but then my mother-in-law called her sister, a former restaurateur for advice. And so, using the following recipe with some adjustments, we created a tasty ratatouille.

Ratatouille- thanks to Beth Campbell and Moosewood Cookbook
3 TBSP olive oil

2 med. cloves garlic

1 chopped onion

1 med eggplant, cubed

1 tsp salt

1 med. Zucchini and yellow squash, cubed

1 med. bell pepper, in strips

fresh black pepper

1 cup chopped fresh tomato

fresh minced parsley

Heat olive oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Add onion and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Add eggplant and salt, and stir. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes or until the **eggplant is soft.

Add zucchini, bell peppers, black pepper, garlic and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about 10 more minutes, or until the zucchini and bell peppers are tender.

Serve hot, warm or at room temperature- plain, or topped with parsley
**Some varieties of eggplant cook much quicker than others, check often and don’t overcook.

The leftover ratatouille made a grade sandwich on crusty bread with mozzarella cheese. Of course, I was eating those sandwiches for several days.