Aug. 28--Stop at most any farmers market these days, and you will see the bounty from a challenging growing season. Despite the cool beginning, "summer finally hit," farmer Liz Aquino told us when we visited the Division Street Farmers Market this past weekend.
The proof was in the mountains of tomatoes, summer squash and bell peppers in red, yellow, orange and green.
Of course, there were also lots of their fiery cousins: jalapenos, red hot cherry peppers, hot banana peppers. And at the Lane's End Farm in Lowell, Ind., which Aquino runs with her husband, Corey, there were a few especially hot ones: cayenne peppers, Thai peppers and ghost peppers.
On a scale of 1 to 10, Aquino puts the ghosts at 10 and says the Thai are not far behind. "They've got a nice heat unless you're not used to hot foods."
The other vegetable that got our attention? Eggplants of several colors and shapes, from the plump deep purple to the skinnier Italian specimens to striped and white versions. Those white eggplants, the folks at the Scheeringa's Farm booth say, will be milder than the purple.
The abundance of vegetables got us thinking about a classic dish from Provence: ratatouille. It uses eggplants, tomatoes, summer squash and bell peppers (no, not spicy peppers).
Here's a simple recipe by columnist Leah Eskin that calls for grilling all the vegetables before combining them; it's then refrigerated a day before serving. The recipe is from the Chicago Tribune's files.
End-of-summer ratatouille
Makes: About 8 servings per large eggplant
Gather eggplant, onions, bell peppers, zucchini or yellow squash, and plum tomatoes. You will need roughly the same amount of each by weight.
Prep all vegetables by trimming ends (if necessary) then splitting in half the long way; if the eggplants are large, cut in half again the long way. Pull out seeds and core from the tomatoes and peppers. Brush all vegetables with olive oil. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Let stand 20 minutes.
Prepare a medium-hot grill. Grill vegetables, turning once, until deeply scored and tender when squeezed. Times will vary depending on the fire and vegetable.
Set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, finely chop onion, pepper and tomato. Coarsely chop zucchini and eggplant. Scoop into a large bowl along with any juice. Drizzle with oil (about 1/4 cup for a 1-eggplant version) and a splash of red wine vinegar. Season with a little chopped garlic and a lot of chopped fresh basil. Grind on pepper and more salt, if you like. Refrigerate overnight. Enjoy at room temperature.
