What’s Cooking is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting easy, delicious recipes. Have a recipe to share? Email us at: recipes @ lgbtsr.com

Looking for an easy side dish? Have a few of these vegetables in the crisper you need to use up? Ratatouille is the answer.

First a little history

The word ratatouille originates from the Occitan ratatolha and is related to the French ratouiller and tatouiller. The verb touiller means “to stir up,” and from the late 18th century indicated a coarse stew. (Wikipedia)

What’s Cooking is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting easy, delicious recipes. Have a recipe to share? Email us at: recipes @ lgbtsr.com

Our vegetable garden is in near-full bloom again, with cucumbers and zucchini popping up every day. It will be awhile longer for the tomatoes, but there’s no reason to wait for delicious cucumber salad (coming soon!) and easy-peasy zucchini bread and muffins.

Here’s a recipe I’ve used every summer since we started the garden. It’s easy and delicious, and it looks like you worked harder than you did. I’m not much for heavy lifting in the kitchen – the cleanup is enough labor for me. These are my favorite kinds of recipes, and you can do them year after year (or month after month, if it suits you!).

What’s Cooking is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting readers’ favorite recipes. Have a recipe to share? Email us at: recipes @ lgbtsr.com

Gerri in Chicago sends this one along, courtesy of Dolores Gentner-Ryan at Allrecipes.com. I’ve tried it myself and love it for its simplicity, flavor, and ease. It’s good for a quick no-fuss meal, with a salad and some garlic bread.

Ingredients

3 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried basil

What’s Cooking is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting readers’ favorite recipes. Have a recipe to share? Email us at: recipes @ lgbtsr.com

The following recipe was provided by Jeff McKeehan, The Happy Medium and husband to Dave Hughes of Retire Fabulously fame.

Gazpacho Trivia: This dish, beloved throughout Spain, plays a central role in the hilarious Pedro Almodóvar film, “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”, starring a very young Antonio Banderas.

Equipment Needed:

Blender with approx. 48 -60 oz capacity.

Wire strainer, approx. 8” diameter, with medium-to-fine mesh

Short-handled soup ladle (for pressing contents through strainer)

Flexible spatula for scraping sides of blender and mixing bowl

Large, lightweight (plastic or stainless steel, not glass) mixing bowl with approx.  60 oz capacity.

Container with tight-fitting lid and closeable pour spout, with approx. 50-60 oz. capacity

What’s Cooking is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting readers’ favorite recipes. Have a recipe to share? Email us at: recipes @ lgbtsr.com

The following recipe was provided by Jeff McKeehan, The Happy Medium and husband to Dave Hughes of Retire Fabulously fame.

Gazpacho Trivia: This dish, beloved throughout Spain, plays a central role in the hilarious Pedro Almodóvar film, “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”, starring a very young Antonio Banderas.

Equipment Needed:

Blender with approx. 48 -60 oz capacity.

Wire strainer, approx. 8” diameter, with medium-to-fine mesh

Short-handled soup ladle (for pressing contents through strainer)

Flexible spatula for scraping sides of blender and mixing bowl

Large, lightweight (plastic or stainless steel, not glass) mixing bowl with approx.  60 oz capacity.

Container with tight-fitting lid and closeable pour spout, with approx. 50-60 oz. capacity

What’s Cooking is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting readers’ favorite recipes.

We’re keeping it simple during these complicated, stressful times. Here’s a recipe from herbalist Cathy McNease that only takes about 15 minutes and is a great addition to something more substantial, or as a stand-alone.

“This is my go to when I am tired and want a healthy meal quickly. Start to finish is about 10-15 minutes.”

• Vegetables of your choice – brocolli, potato, zucchini, onion – all work well, singly or together.
•             (if potato is included it will make the soup more creamy)
• Steam the vegetables til soft.
• Then, put vegies and the steam water in the blender along with 1 can of coconut milk, 1-3 Tbsp of miso paste (depending on how salty you like it) and seasonings you like – I use cumin powder, oregano and basil.
• Blend all together and warm briefly.
• Top with chopped cilantro. Serve with crackers, chips or buttered toast. Mmmm!

Have a favorite recipe? Send it to: recipes @ lgbtsr.com and share it with readers. Include something about yourself and a photo or two if you’d like.

What’s Cooking is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting readers’ favorite recipes.

This week’s What’s Cookin’ recipe comes from Rick Rose, Special Projects Director for Discover Media and co-host of The Twist 2.0 Podcast.

A Yankee who moved to the Deep South, Rick mastered many Cajun recipes including his favorite, Crawfish Etouffee. This photo is with his New Orleans buddy, Lynn, the year he first tasted this incredible southern dish.

There’s a lot cookin’ at LGBTSR in 2020, including the new Being Well feature, the One Thing or Another Podcast, and now something to whet your appetite: the What’s Cookin’ feature, offering favorite recipes from everyday foodies like you. Look for something tasty each week, and don’t forget to subscribe to the website for your Thursday newsletter bringing new content right to your virtual doorstep. Send your favorite recipe to: recipes @ lgbtsr.com. Include a few words about yourself and a photo if you’d like them included.