Excellent Breakfast

The Alfa is tucked in on her pad for a while.  We may take a short run in November, but basically we will be working on house projects until our Christmas get away. 

It's probably a good thing we don't have a trip soon because California is having a fuel crisis.  Gas prices are skyrocketing. $5.00 gas is being reported in San Francisco, and some stations are closing temporarily rather than pay the high wholesale prices. COSTCO is one of them.  I paid $4.50 for regular yesterday!

So ... I can either put the blog on hold, unlikely, or write about other things in my life, like food.

I had an excellent breakfast this morning.  Leftover ratatouille with leftover spaghetti squash mixed in. 

So good!

Picture from the Web

I cooked the Ratatouille in the slow cooker on Tuesday.  

So easy.  

I really like the cooker I have because the ceramic inner pot is removable and fits into either my home refrigerator or the RV refrigerator, and I can do all the prep work the night before if I want, it is so much easier than doing all the chopping and making a mess in the morning.

I don't really follow a particular recipe. This is how I make it:

Cut the following vegetables into 1" - 1 1/2"  chunks and place into slow cooker, adding the seasonings as you go:
1 large onion
3 bell peppers, red, yellow and orange. 
1 green bell pepper (optional)
2 crook neck yellow squash 
2 or 3 zucchini 
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers
1 large or 2 small peeled eggplants

2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes that have been peeled and seeded, or 2 cans chopped tomatoes that have been drained in a sieve to remove excess liquid.  

Seasonings:
Lots of chopped up garlic,  
2 or more tablespoons salt and pepper, 
a generous amount of Italian blend seasoning or your own mix of dried oregano and basil. Parsley is good too. I just shake it on as I add layers of veggies.

A generous splash of olive oil. 

I mix all of this together and top with 1 thin sliced smoked sausage. I use a turkey one from Hillshire Farms. 

Vegetarians can leave the sausage out.

In the morning, I start the slow cooker on high for a little while if possible and then turn it down to low for the rest of the day: 8 hours or so.  If it looks done before dinner time I switch it to warm.  

I do not add any extra liquid to the veggies, nor do I salt and rinse the eggplant. 

Ratatouille is a hearty vegetale stew that is wonderful on a cool autumn evening. I serve it in a soup bowl with both a spoon and a fork.  Sometimes I add a sprinkle of fresh basil or parsley on top if I have it.  

A nice slice of fresh homemade bread completes the meal. Bread is also great to sop up the juices.

The above recipe amount made eight servings.  We had it two nights for dinner, then Craig had it for lunch one day, and I ate the rest for breakfast today.

Yumm...

What is one of your favorite fall comfort foods?