Colorful Veggie Bake -- When the Garden Gives More Than You Can Eat

Garden is producing faster than we can eat. Tomatoes ripening all at once, the way tomatoes do — nothing for weeks and then suddenly there are thirty of them turning red simultaneously like they coordinated. Squash multiplying like it's auditioning for a horror movie. Green beans coming in straight and plentiful and more than two people can consume even if one of those people is me and I can eat a considerable amount of green beans.

Spent Tuesday canning. Bought mason jars at Walmart — two dozen quarts, lids and rings — and set up the big stock pot on the stove for a water bath and canned tomatoes the way Betty taught me, which she taught me by accident because I was always in the kitchen watching while my brothers were outside not watching. Blanch the tomatoes, peel them, pack them in jars with a tablespoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of salt, fill with hot water, process for forty-five minutes. I put up twelve quarts of whole tomatoes and they lined up on the counter like soldiers and I felt the specific satisfaction that comes from looking at food you preserved with your own hands and knowing it will feed you in December when the garden is dead and the cold is here and you need a jar of summer to get through.

Betty canned everything. Tomatoes, green beans, corn, beets, pickles, apple butter, pepper relish. The cellar in Evarts had shelves lined with mason jars, hundreds of them, a library of food organized by season and purpose. When I was a boy I thought every house had a cellar full of jars. I didn't know that was Betty's work, Betty's preparation, Betty's refusal to be dependent on a grocery store that might not be there next week or a paycheck that might not come. She canned against uncertainty. I'm canning against forgetting.

Called Betty and told her I canned twelve quarts. She said only twelve? I said there's only two of us, Mama. She said there's never only two of you. People come. Family comes. Neighbors come. You can for the people who are coming, not just the people who are here. She's right. She's always right. I'll can more next week.

After canning twelve quarts and still looking at a counter full of tomatoes and squash that didn’t make it into jars, I needed something for dinner that could actually put a dent in the pile — something that celebrated all of it rather than asking me to choose. This colorful veggie bake is the kind of thing Betty would’ve made on a Tuesday when the cellar was still being stocked and supper still had to happen anyway: no fuss, everything goes in, feeds whoever shows up. It felt right.

Colorful Veggie Bake

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchini or yellow squash, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped)
• 1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil or nonstick spray.
2. Prep the vegetables. Slice squash, halve tomatoes, trim and cut green beans, chop bell pepper, and slice onion. Mince the garlic.
3. Season and toss. Combine all vegetables in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, add garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Toss until everything is evenly coated.
4. Layer in the dish. Spread the vegetable mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish in a single layer as much as possible.
5. Bake uncovered. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until vegetables are tender and beginning to caramelize at the edges.
6. Add cheese. Remove from oven, sprinkle Parmesan and mozzarella evenly over the top, and return to oven for 10–15 more minutes until cheese is melted and golden.
7. Finish and serve. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Top with fresh basil if using. Serve as a side or over rice or crusty bread for a full meal.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 175 | Protein: 8g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 320mg