Getting creative

Dribs and drabs of food in my refrigerator haunt me. I blame the farmers market for the lush tomatoes and vivid red and yellow peppers that I like to keep on the table, ignoring them until they are on the edge of extinction. I look past the girth of eggplants when I purchase them only to be frustrated when they take up the whole refrigerator vegetable bin.

And what about corn? (Also refrigerator hogs, by the way.) There's always one that will not fit on the grill or in the microwave and languishes lonely and near forgotten until desperation hits the dinner table.

So what if you don't have enough of one thing to feed everyone a portion? A few dribs and drabs of everything will make an empty plate look like a vegetable repast.

Or stretch it: Let them eat a bit of maque choux, a Cajun dish made from corn on the cob and other vegetables and which accommodates shrimp quite nicely. Ratatouille, an eggplant vegetable stew, easily becomes a bed for a cooked chicken breast.

What to do with a pie crust, half a log of goat cheese, a zucchini and a very ripe tomato about to meet its demise? Make a lovely tart. It, too, can accommodate cooked shrimp or shredded chicken and certainly is a meal for a king.

Nikki's Roasted Tomato and Zucchini Lattice Tart

Nikki Moore, my summer apprentice from Johnson & Wales in Charlotte, developed this recipe from some ideas we batted around. It is remarkably easy. Don't feel constrained to do exactly as we did.

First, we baked the pie crust in a tart pan. Then we sliced and roasted the tomatoes in the oven to intensify their flavor and cook out some of their moisture, thus preventing a soggy pie. We took a potato peeler to a hapless zucchini, making long ribbons that we wove into a lattice atop the tart. The whole thing was run through the oven to heat through and melt the cheese.

Serves 6-8 as an appetizer

Ingredients

1 pie crust (may be store-bought)

1 cup goat cheese

1-2 oven-roasted tomatoes, sliced (recipe follows)

1 zucchini

2 tablespoons olive oil

1-2 tablespoons fresh herbs, such as thyme or basil, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out the pastry to fit an 8- to 9-inch tart pan, preferably with removable bottom. Trim off the excess around the edges. Fill the tart with pie weights or crumbled wax paper and rice and beans to hold up the sides while prebaking. Slide onto a cookie sheet and bake until the crust is light brown. Remove from the oven, remove the pie weights and return to the oven until lightly brown all over. Leave on the cookie sheet.

Layer the bottom with the cheese, saving 1/2 cup for the top. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, spreading evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese on top.

Meanwhile, slice the zucchini vertically into long strips with a vegetable peeler. Heat the oil in a small frying pan, add the zucchini and wilt just a few minutes. Cool sufficiently to handle and form into a lattice on the top of the cheese. (This is simple: Make a horizontal row of zucchini, leaving space between the rows. Weave the remaining zucchini under and over the horizontal row, leaving a space again so the tomatoes and cheese show through.)

Bake 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle herbs over if using. Allow to rest 5 minutes before cutting.

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

Enough for 1 or 2 pies

Ingredients

2 pounds tomatoes (4-5 medium-size tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt (or kosher or coarse)

2-3 tablespoons chopped basil, thyme or oregano

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Slice tomatoes. Oil an 11x7 glass or ceramic baking dish or line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the tomatoes in a single layer, not touching each other. Sprinkle with the salt and herbs.

Drizzle the tops of the tomatoes with the remaining oil. Cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until the liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes are curled around the edges. Use as directed in a recipe or freeze for future use.

Variation: If time is not of the essence, cook 4-5 hours at 275 degrees. The tomatoes may get a little black around the edges, indicating caramelization. To many aficionados of tomatoes, this can only make them better. If you think your tomatoes are burned, be sure to taste one. You may love the way it tastes. I usually do.

Tip: Place in a container and top with 2 tablespoons olive oil if you plan to use within a few days.

Green Beans With Mushroom and Tomato Conserve

Please don't take this recipe literally. Use whatever you have, whether more or less. No mushrooms? Leave them out. No conserve? (Also called tomato jam and tomato preserves.) Leave it out. Make it easy on yourself.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 pound green string beans

2-3 tablespoons butter

1/2-1 cup of mushrooms, sliced

Salt

Freshly grated pepper

1/2 cup tomato conserve

Directions

Remove the tips and tails (ends) of the beans, and string as necessary. Add to sufficient boiling water to cover, return to a boil, and cook 5 minutes. Remove and drain in a colander, run under cold water to set the color, and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms and saute until soft. When ready to serve, add the green beans back to the frying pan, tossing over heat until both are heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Move to a serving dish and top with the tomato conserve, or serve separately.

Ratatouille

No two ratatouilles are the same. With luck, all the vegetables are abundant at one time. Take the amount of vegetables on hand and adjust accordingly. Omit the tomatoes for a zucchini, eggplant and pepper casserole, for instance. Cut the recipe in half, or double it. Just don't try to make it exact.

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

4 large eggplants or 6 small ones, chopped

Salt

6 zucchini, sliced into rounds

8 tablespoons oil, preferably olive oil

6 onions, sliced

3 red, yellow or green bell peppers, seeded and cut into wedges or sliced

6 garlic cloves, chopped

2 (1-pound 12-ounce) cans Italian plum tomatoes and juice or 2 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 cup fresh herbs (preferably thyme, parsley and basil), chopped

Freshly ground pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To cook the eggplant in the oven, slice, score and place in a colander with salt. Leave for 30 minutes. Rinse, drain and dry well with paper towels. Brush the eggplant and zucchini slices with oil and place on an oiled baking sheet. Cook in the oven about 10 minutes. (To cook in the microwave, place whole eggplants, pierced, and zucchini, pierced, in the microwave, and cook until soft, then cool and slice.)

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the onions, peppers and garlic, and cook until soft, adding oil as needed. Add the cooked eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and their juices, and half the herbs. Season well to taste with pepper. Serve hot or cold, sprinkled with remaining herbs. Freezes well. Reheats well in microwave.

Variation: Continue to cook the ratatouille for another hour, until thick and creamy. It is delicious, making a wonderful bed for grilled pork, lamb chops or chicken breasts.

Maque Choux

Pronounced "mock shoe," this variation on the traditional Cajun dish makes a colorful addition to the table and is a great way to use leftover produce.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

6 ears corn, husked

4 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red or green bell pepper, chopped (or half of each for a more colorful dish)

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

Salt

Freshly grated black pepper

Directions

Stand corn on its end in a pie plate or shallow bowl and using a sharp knife cut off the kernels in a downward motion. Once all the kernels have been removed, press the back of the knife into the ear and push downward to "milk" the corn and extract any remaining juices. Melt butter in large frying pan or cast-iron skillet. Add onion, garlic and bell pepper and saute until soft. Add corn and tomato and cook until heated through and corn is crisp-tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.