New Beginnings: First Day of School Feast!!

Hello again everyone! Today was the first day of my senior year of college (wow! scary!).  I had class and a meeting for my independent study (which has to do with food so more on this at a later date!!).  When I came home all I wanted to do was to pig out to reward myself for a hard day of work.  Now let me tell you I love to eat things that are unhealthy and I definitely always  have at least 2 boxes of emergency butter hidden away in my fridge at all times( 1 box salted, 1 box unsalted...hey! butter emergencies happen!) and I never turn down any type of dessert. So, on days when I just want to eat and eat all things that make my waist line say,  "whoa there, who the heck do you think you are miss," I try to mix a really healthy flavorful dish with something that might not be so healthy (and then I put in an extra 15 mins. at the rec the next day!)  For my back to school feast I invited my friend Mitch over and also fed my roommate Ali, and I made a quick Vegetable Ratatouille and some of my Super Easy Really Cheesy Bread.  It was Delicious!! The firmness and freshness of the vegetables really compliments the creamy cheesy goodness of the bread.  This recipe is super easy to make, the most time consuming part of the whole thing was the time it took to simmer which was absolute torture because it smelled delicious.  I just used the vegetables that I had in the house, but you can add whatever others that you like.  Also, feel free to mix up the herbs in the recipe and really make it your own. I mean that is what cooking is all about right?!

Vegetable Ratatouille (a mish mash of 3 or 4 recipes from my various French cookbooks)
Ingredients:
olive oil
2 medium size yellow onions diced
1 eggplant diced
2 zucchini diced
1 red pepper seeded and chopped
1 green pepper seeded and chopped
1 yellow pepper seeded and diced
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 28oz can of chopped tomatoes
3T chopped fresh basil
about 2T dried Herbes de Provence (or mix your own dried rosemary, oregano, savory, marjoram, thyme, and basil in equal parts)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
1.)  Swirl oil around a large pan 2-3 times and heat until very hot.  Saute all of the chopped vegetables except for the tomatoes.  Season with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence until softened (about 6-8 minutes).
2.)  Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil while stirring.  Turn heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.
3.)  Turn the heat off and stir in the fresh basil.  Re-cover the pot and let sit for 3 minutes.
4.)  Serve with grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Super Easy Really Cheesy Bread (I saw this in a magazine somewhere and tweaked it to my liking)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. mixed Monterrey Jack and Colby shredded cheese
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 c. mayo (I used light mayo)
1 spoonful of sour cream
1 stick of butter softened
1 loaf of French bread (cut into a top and bottom half)
1 to 2 green onions chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:
1.) Preheat the broiler ( I have a hi and lo option, I used hi).
2.) Cover a cookie sheet with foil and put the bread on it.
3.) Mix all of the other ingredients together in a bowl. Spread the mixture on the bread.
4.) Broil for 4-5 minutes (watch your bread!!! Every oven is different so watch for the cheese to begin browning.
5.) Allow to cool for 2 minutes.  Slice and serve!

Bon Appetit!