Da Vinci said “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Keep that in mind as you quickly toss together raw sweet corn from three ears, a cup of chopped super ripe tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, a half cup of minced red onion, a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon or more of lemon juice.

Seriously, don’t let the summer end before trying this. Enough said.

This is my entry for September’s “No Croutons Required” event, hosted this month by the blog Food and Spice. The theme this month is corn!

My friend Louise absolutely loves ratatouille.  “Rat,” she calls it. I’ve never seen anyone get so excited about a bowl of vegetables! So I’m sorry that she couldn’t be there for this slightly tricked-out version made with grilled zucchini and eggplant. I could have grilled the onions and peppers too, but I didn’t want the smoky taste to overwhelm the dish.

Packed with nothing but vegetables, this stuff is pretty damn healthy. To complete the meal I’d recommend pairing it with a whole grain like brown rice and maybe a healthy-ish sausage of your choice. (Although I’ve been known to eat it with nothing but a hunk of crusty bread.)

Anyway, this version is a nice change of pace from the usual ratatouille. In fact, when I tasted the finished dish, I got nearly as fired up as Louise gets about Rat. And trust me, that’s saying a lot.

Ratatouille with Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 pounds eggplant, chopped (salt it if it’s not young, super fresh eggplant)
3 medium zucchini (or use a mixture of zucchini and yellow squash)
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 green bell peppers, chopped
4-5 large very ripe tomatoes, peeled seeded and chopped
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Start a fire in your grill. Combine the eggplant and zucchini with 1 tablespoon of oil. Grill in a vegetable basket, stirring, for about 8 minutes or until the vegetables are about halfway cooked. Remove to a plate and hold.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Saute the onions for 8-10 minutes, then add the garlic and peppers and cook 5 minutes more. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme and parsley, along with the grilled vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are quite soft. Add the fresh basil and serve.

Serves 6

Just a quick post to tip you off to one of my favorite salads. I love how the earthy beets and sweet oranges play off the peppery arugula. I’ve suggested pistachio nuts as an addition here, but toasted almonds or walnuts would be equally delicious.

I used beets straight from my garden, which did make a difference.  Quite a few of my dinner companions asked, “Where did you get these beets?”  From the ground, of course!

Beet, Orange and Arugula Salad

4 medium beets
2 large navel oranges
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced (optional)
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
5-ounce package baby arugula (or two bunches arugula)
1/3 cup unsalted shelled pistachio nuts
1 small red onion, halved lengthwise sliced into thin half moons

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut off the stems and wrap each beet tightly in foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake about an hour or until the beets feel tender when pierced with a knife. Let them cool for 10-15 minutes, then chop off the top of the beets and slip off the peels. Chop into 1-inch pieces.

Cut the top and bottom off the oranges and stand them upright. Cut off the peel, following the contour of the orange and removing as much of the white pith as possible. Slice crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, then halve or quarter each slice.

Mix the vinegar, mustard, garlic and shallots in a bowl, then gradually whisk in the olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, toss the arugula with the dressing and divide between six plates. Top each salad with the chopped beets, oranges, red onion and pistachio nuts.

Serves 6

Do you think it’s a coincidence that my Maine vacation coincided with the beginning of wild blueberry season up there?  Of course not!  My travel companions were buzzing for weeks about the prospect of blueberry pie, which I promptly made them once we arrived at our lake house.  But I didn’t stop there – the abundance of tiny wild blueberries was just too tempting.  When I announced that I was going to make blueberry buckle next, I got some slightly confused looks that said “What the hell is a buckle?”

Some people think a buckle is similar to a cobbler or crumble. But it’s really something quite different: a cake with berries in the batter, topped with a streusel topping.  Buckles are popular in Texas and New England, but its origins are debated.  A Mainer I met on the shore of Tunk Lake told me it originated in this state. So who am I to question him?

I first had buckle as a kid, but had forgotten all about it until I saw this recipe in Vegetarian Times.  Astonishingly, it’s vegan – it certainly doesn’t seem like it. The main change I made was adding pecans to the topping – an essential improvement, if you ask me.

You have one important choice to make with this recipe: If you use the full 4 cups of berries specified, you’ll end up with a buckle that’s almost bread pudding-like (as in the photo.)  Use 2 cups and you have a blueberry-laced coffee cake.  I like the cake-like version, but my gang of fellow vacationers went nuts for the texture of the former. Which one is more authentic?  I have no idea.  After all, I’m no buckle authority … but I’m working on it.

Blueberry Buckle

Topping:
3/4 c. whole-wheat pastry flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
4 T. canola oil
4 T. chopped toasted pecans

Cake:
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
3/4 c. maple syrup
1/3 c. canola oil
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. salt
2-4 c. fresh blueberries (see above)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 9-inch springform pan and wrap bottom with foil. (If you use the smaller quantity of berries, you can bake this in an 8″ square baking pan instead.)

To make the topping, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.  Add oil gradually and mix with your fingers until crumbly. Toss in nuts and set aside. Meanwhile, mix flours, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.

In another bowl, whisk syrup, oil and vanilla. Stir into the flour mixture and mix briefly. Fold in the berries.

Spread the batter in the pan and sprinkle on the topping. Bake 55 to 65 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean (it will take the longer time if you’ve used 4 cups of berries.)  Cool 30 minutes unmold, and dig in.

I’m not a nutritionist by any means. But as someone with heart disease, I’ve learned enough to throw some useful nutrition facts your way on the occasional Tuesday.

Everyone knows about Omega-3 fatty acids: they’re good for your heart and a lot more. But Omega-6 fatty acids are also an important dietary consideration, particularly the balance of Omega-3 and Omega-6.  It’s estimated that the average American diet contains between 14 and 25 times more Omega-6 than 3.  That’s not good, because high consumption of Omega-6 promotes inflammation and is associated with heart diseases, arthritis, depression, cancer and more.  The optimal balance is 4:1 or lower – some experts recommend a 2:1 ratio.

Start reading nutrition labels, and you’ll start to see how Omega-6’s sneak into your diet – the biggest culprits are polyunsaturated oils:  corn, sunflower*, safflower*, soy and cottonseed, found in commercial breads and baked goods, margarines, salad dressings and many other processed foods – even veggie burgers and soy dogs.  Other foods high in Omega-6 include tofu, sunflower seeds, whole grains and meats.  (However, note that grass-fed beef has a much, much better Omega-6 to 3 ratio than grain-feed beef.) So bottom line, here’s my advice:

• Strongly limit your intake of the oils listed above. Instead, choose oils like extra virgin olive, organic canola, and macadamia nut.
• Balance the Omega-6s you do eat with Omega-3’s from olive oil, flax seeds, avocados, oily fish, winter squash, beans and omega-3 fortified eggs.
• Don’t bake with margarine – it makes me crazy to see all of the vegan recipes with Earth Balance! Choose a heart-healthy oil instead.

* UPDATE: “high oleic” versions of sunflower and safflower oil are quite different and will not have the same inflammatory effect as the regular type. If the sunflower and safflower oils in your supermarket aren’t clearly marked, look on nutrition labels for a high monounsaturated fat content and a low polyunsaturated content – that indicates a high-oleic oil.

Hope this info helps you keep the all-important Omega balance in mind as you chow your way through the week.

Rhubarb season usually ends in June ’round these parts, but for some reason the rhubarb survived in my garden until very recently.  Sadly, there wasn’t enough to make a pie. But I found a recipe for  red lentils with rhubarb in Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  I’ve changed the spices a bit and added onions and carrots, but give Mr. Bittman total credit for the idea of adding rhubarb – something that would have never crossed my mind!  The rhubarb is delicious here, but fairly subtle, so don’t go worrying that it’s going to be too sour.  Served on brown rice with a dollop of nonfat yogurt, this makes a superb – and very nutritious – supper.

If rhubarb isn’t still in season is over where you live, you can leave it out and you’ll still have a nice simple dal.  Or think of another tangy addition of your own – tomatillos, anyone?

Red Lentil Dal with Rhubarb

2 cups dried red lentils, rinsed
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1” piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 fresh jalapeno or Serrano pepper, minced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon black pepper
Small pinch cinnamon
1 medium onion, diced
2 small carrots, diced (about 2/3 c.)
3 stalks rhubarb, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
½ teaspoon salt

Heat the oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or large saucepan. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and cook for 1 minute. Add the ginger, hot pepper, garlic, coriander, turmeric, pepper and cinnamon, and cook for 1 minute more. Add the onions and carrots and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the lentils, rhubarb and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until lentils and vegetables are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Add salt to taste halfway through cooking time. If the dal gets too thick, add a little extra water.

Serves 6