We all have our summertime favourite veg, for our resident foodie, JANE HUTTON it’s the often overlooked courgette.
High summer is a time of sunshine (hopefully), and a cornucopia of fresh produce everywhere you look. If you grow your own fruit and veg, there are particular ones that can keep on giving to the point where you can’t keep up! Rhubarb, raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, peas, broad beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and just about every kind of variety of lettuce that you can name, are all easy to grow. Most, at least, are easy to use or freeze if you have too much, or if you have not got around to using what you have bought. Some are not so amenable to preservation in their raw state, and so we can end up throwing them out, or not buying or growing them at all. Summer beauties like courgettes produce prodigiously, yet can be overlooked in the nutrition stakes. They are not as widely used in salads as peppers, and because of their mild flavour paired with a texture that can turn to mush if not cooked correctly, the glut can languish away to waste. We all have a courgette cake recipe somewhere in our collection, though it’s not often a favourite. In truth, we should all be looking forward to the summer courgette season as a time when these powerhouses really come into their own. Whether green or yellow, these members of the squash family have an array of health benefits, so give them a starring role while they are so fresh and juicy. Chock full of manganese and vitamin C, courgettes don’t just offer a great combination of conventional antioxidant nutrients, they also contain an unusual amount of other antioxidant nutrients, including lutein and zeaxanthin. These antioxidants are especially helpful in protecting eye health, including age- related macular degeneration and cataracts. Having the nutrients to protect against cardiovascular and digestive inflammation makes courgettes potentially useful in keeping blood vessels strong and soothing ulcers, but they also guard against type 2 diabetes by maintaining healthy blood sugar regulation with their profile of B complex vitamins, zinc, magnesium, and omega 3 fatty acids, plus, of course, beneficial polysaccharide fibres like pectin. Lovely sautéed simply with garlic, julienned in salads, or spiralised to create spaghetti-like noodles, try them in this rich ratatouille, along with other hard-to-freeze, nutritious veg like peppers and aubergines. Choose yellow, orange, red and green to bring a splash of summery colour to your dish!
Rich riotous ratatouille
You will need:
6 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 large aubergines, cut into 1 inch
chunks
4 small courgettes, sliced into 1 inch
chunks
1 red and 1 yellow pepper,
deseeded and cut into 1 1/2 inch
chunks
2 small red onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
8 large, ripe tomatoes, peeled,
seeded, roughly chopped
1 small bunch of basil, roughly torn
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large casserole,
browning the aubergines on all
sides. Set aside and use a little
more of the oil to do the same to the
courgettes, and then the peppers.
Use the remaining oil and cook the
onions gently for 10 minutes until
soft and caramelised. Add the garlic
and cook for a minute, then add
the coriander seeds and vinegar.
Combine, then add the tomatoes and
half the basil. Tip the veg chunks
back in, season and cook for 15-20
minutes, until the veg are soft and
the tomatoes have melted into the
base. Check seasoning, scatter with
the rest of the basil,
and serve.