June 16 is National Fresh Veggies Day, and I’m celebrating by making one of my favorite summertime veggie casseroles.
The dish uses fresh veggies that are abundant in many home gardens — zucchini and tomatoes. It also calls for onions, but I haven’t a clue how to grow an onion. Besides, living here in Georgia, Vidalia onions are plentiful, so I just buy onions from the supermarket.
by Debbie Reddin van Tuyll.
As far as I know, the casserole doesn’t have a name. Or if it does, it’s something simple like zucchini and tomato casserole. I’ve been making it for so long, I don’t remember exactly where I found it. I think maybe it’s from the Birmingham (Ala.) Junior League cookbook that we got as a wedding present. I seem to remember it being on a yellow page, and that cookbook uses a different color paper for each section, so that seems like a good possibility.
The best thing about this casserole is that it’s really easy to prepare. I usually start with two tomatoes, two zucchini and one onion unless I’m making the dish for company. Then I might double the number of veggies, depending on how many people are coming.
The first step is to slice the zucchini, tomatoes and onions using whatever quantity gives you the size casserole you want. I have an old five-quart Spice of Life CorningWear casserole dish that I usually use for this recipe — another hint that it’s probably from the Birmingham Junior League cookbook because we got that casserole dish as a wedding present, too. My preference is to slice the veggies thinly, but if you prefer chunkier veggies, feel free to go that route. This is a flexible and forgiving recipe.
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Once everything is sliced, the recipe calls for layering the veggies. First, you add a layer of onions, then zucchini, then onions. Each layer is drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper and the dried Italian herbs available in the spice rack at the grocery store. Because I have an abundance of basil and oregano growing in my garden, I use fresh instead of dried, at least in the summer when I make this dish. The recipe doesn’t call for garlic, but you can toss some of that in, too, if you like it.
Repeat those layers until you’ve used all the veggies and then sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the top layer. Then bake at 350 for about half an hour or until the veggies are done, and you’ve got a tasty, savory veggie casserole that’s great with chicken, fish, beef or pork. I’ve even been known to toss a couple of chicken breasts on top of the casserole and bake them with the veggies.
Zucchini and Tomato Summer Casserole
2 large tomatoes
2 large zucchini
1 large Vidalia onion
Italian herb seasoning to taste
Olive oil for drizzing
Parmesan cheese
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the veggies thinly. Layer in a 5-quart casserole, starting with the onion followed by the zucchini and then the tomato. Drizzle each layer with a teaspoon of high-quality olive oil. Continue building layers until all the veggies have been used. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top (optional) and bake for 30 minutes or until done.
Debbie Reddin van Tuyll is a writer for The Augusta Press. Reach her at debbie@theaugustapress.com.
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