I love new inspirations when it comes to cooking. No matter how much you embrace that kitchen and arm yourself with all the gadgets, bags of dried beans, quinoa, and fresh veggies, and oh-so-much more… there are times you just feel stuck. ‘What do we eat today?’ becomes a random puzzled thought that comes into my head once in a while. (sometimes too often)…
Cooking truly is one of my passions – but I don’t go skipping to the kitchen every time. There’s days I need to be lured into that kitchen, days I need to feel inspired and just in plain need of help!
That’s why I loved this new book from The Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living, called Meatless.
‘Meatless’ is true eye candy of recipes that excite all the senses. It is a beautiful book of 200 recipes that are all vegetarian, with some vegan and even gluten-free options. The beautiful recipes come alive on the pages and delight and inspire the chef in you.
I loved the great variety of flavours and food categories throughout the book. From lunches to comfort-food dinners and so much more, I was really impressed with the wide selection of goodness right in front of me. Seriously — soups, stews, chilis, pizzas, casseroles, gratins, salsas, dips, burgers — and so much more. You can’t get bored of this book. This one book has it all to please a hungry vegetarian palate. There’s also lots of vegan options and gluten-free as well as ‘special diet’ which exclude dairy, wheat, soy or nuts ~ and these symbols are easy to find with each recipe. It’s also great for families who even do eat meat or fish, but want to have easy options available to change the menu once in a while. So if you’re not ready to give up meat all the way, this is a great way to include meatless meals in a delicious way.
With so many delicious options in front of me, I didn’t know what I would pick to cook for my family… but as I flipped through the bright pages of this cookbook, one yummy recipe with an interesting name caught my eye…. and I decided to make the Roasted-Vegetable Ratatouille.
Roasted-Vegetable Ratatouille
from the kitchens of Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
- 1 large eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 medium zucchini,
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh thyme
- coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 onions, halved and cut into half-moons
- 6 pounds tomatoes, peeled and cut into quarters, seeds discarded
- 2 bell peppers (1 red and 1 yellow), roasted and sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick strips
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss eggplant, zucchini, 1/2 cup oil, and thyme on a large baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and spread out evenly. Roast, tossing occasionally until golden, about 1 hour.
- Heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add garlic and onions, cook stirring frequently until soft, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes and peppers: cook until tomatoes are soft.
- Add eggplant and zucchini, 1/4 cup basil and remaining tablespoon thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes. Stir in parsley and remaining 1/4 cup basil. Cook just until heated through, about 1 minute more. Serve hot or at room temperature.
I loved making this recipe, the fresh flavours all mingling together and sitting down with my family to eat it. Everyone loved this dish; including my husband and our 5 year old daughter. (Eggplant happens to be one of her top favourite vegetables!) I knew that ;) And I also knew that she would love the name of this dish being ‘Ratatouille’ from the movie we’ve seen about the mouse chef!
So I made my family happy, and that makes me smile and feel good… and know that there will be 199 more great recipes to try out… and more to cook as for sure some are already meant to be repeated as our favourites.
You know what else is exciting…. I have one extra copy to give as a giveaway to one of Lifeologia readers! Excited? Yes!!
(Giveaway Closed)
I was completely thrilled to receive this beautiful book from The Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living. I am certain you will love it too!
To check out a sneak peek of ‘Meatless’, please visit this page for more!
Blogger, Recipe Developer, Photographer and Author. Loves healthy food, photography, sunshine and dancing in the kitchen with her two daughters. 
Take out food is always disappointing! Canned food has ingredients, I would not feed to my pup in it! Cooking is the only way to eat healthy. I enjoy smells of cooking. The best part of cooking is sitting down at your table and enjoying your hard work.
I absolutely adore cooking! I cook for usually about 7 of us. My oldest daughter (21) has been vegetarian now for about 6 years. My youngest daughter (13) has been a vegetarian for almost a year. I am usually meat free, but give into fish once in a while, lol. Otherwise, everyone else here is a meat eater. Not everyone in our family chooses to understand the choices that my 2 daughters have made or why I even choose to green juice, which is hard sometimes. But, we stick to it! It’s great that vegetarian and vegan recipes are going more mainstream! The book looks great!
I LOVE to cook! My husband and I work together in our tiny kitchen. The space is challenging, but we make it work. We like to listen to music or watch movies on the iPad while we prepare meals.
I don’t love to cook-lol. I’ve been meat-free for probably 20 years or so and honestly, other than my few signature meals, I am usually stuck on what to fix for dinner. :)
I shared the giveaway on Facebook.
I shared the post on my Pinterest Recipe board.
I LOVE cooking with a capital L. It’s so relaxing, and fun. I get inspired by all kinds of things from my own imagination, to cook books, to what I see on the blogs, and I can’t wait to dive in. My favorite time to cook is in mid-afternoon, and I always do so with my I-pod blasting! :) would love to win a copy of this book, because I’ve heard such great things about it!
I cook from scratch just about every night for our family of four. We recently transitioned to vegetarian (with a bit of fish) and I find that I’m beginning to run out of ideas. I would LOVE a new vegetarian cookbook! :)
I absolutely LOVE to cook. I really enjoy trying new recipes and tasting the success. My biggest challenge is TIME MANAGEMENT. I’m terrible at it. I have 2 small children so getting food on the table in a decent amount of time is a priority. I really need to improve this when trying out a new recipe
I love to cook with a capital L!! My happy place is pouring over cookbooks, making grocery lists and then preparing new, healthy dishes for my family. I want to instil the idea of cooking and baking whole foods to my 5 year old. I want to educate her on where our food comes.
I love food and I love eating! And I really love new cookbooks;)
I am a minimalist cook – whatever is easiest, but I am trying to transition our family to more of a plant-based diet. I can use all the help I can get! I’d love to get this cookbook! :)
I let my husband do the cooking! It works great!
I love cooking and baking. I am always trying new recipes and ideas. Lately been trying to get the “lab” healthier. This would help a ton!
I’m a student, so I try to make time to cook on the weekends that I can eat throughout the week! Thanks!
I bought this cookbook a couple of weeks ago and it is sooo great!
I love to cook when I have the time. All too often I get home late from work and just want to eat a quick, simple meal.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
I love to cook, but sometimes I have the same struggles as you. Joe and I also eat a LOT of food, so sometimes it becomes a chore! I do keep a few processed things around for nights when I just have nothing to eat and no time. But we also spend one night a week making something creative and special together…keeps the kitchen magic alive. =)
LOVE THIS GIVEAWAY!
LUV to cook, veggie for 20 yrs, now trying to be vegan. that is a bit of a challenge, and trying to conquer vegan BAKING!
I am transitioning from hating to cook to enjoying it….slowly. Thank you for your blog and the posts. It makes things much easier and simpler for me.
I recently just starting stepping into the wonderful world of cooking. I love experimenting with lots of veggies. Especially with vegan recipes and recipes that make me feel wordly like a Thai coconut soup or a concoction made with turmeric. One of my favorite things is sweet potatoes yumm :). I would love to try this cook book out since I love plant-based recipes!
I would love a chance to win this book! I have 3 young children and one more on the way and try every night to cook a healthy dinnner for my family. My husband is huge on hotdogs and takeout and my children hate veggies. I would love some new ideas and inspiration on meatless cooking. I love cooking but lack imagination and time to research recipes with 3 young ones 5 yrs and younger.
I recently cut out all processed foods, which is making quick meals more challenging and takes more planning, but the health benefits have been amazing! I am off meds for RA and allergies that I have taken for years, and I feel better than I ever have. I am something of a foodie, but I get frustrated sometimes trying to eat well AND enjoyable. I am looking all over for more inspiration!
I find that many of my friends as they’ve gotten older have stopped cooking at home. I now cook more than ever since I’ve got time to cook and I’m try to eat healthier, especially meat free.
I don’t like cooking so I try to keep it simple. I have rheumatoid arthritis so I am trying to heal myself by eliminating foods for which I have a sensitivity. This means organic, natural and healing (for inflammation) foods. It includes a lot of soups (easier to make).
It’s a Love & Hate type of relationship…lol. Most of the time I love it and enjoy trying new recipes and experimenting but there is that time every once in a while I kinda hate it probably because I cook & make food everyday due to food allergies.
I tweeted it ; )
I am always looking for new recipes to try, especially vegan ones! I have my old favorites, but would love to add more variety! I would love to see this new cookbook!
My favourite time to cook is on a Sunday when I can shut myself in the kitchen and experiment with new flavours. I put the radio on and enjoy the time I have to myself!
I shared this on facebook!
I shared this on Twitter
I already like your pages! I’m entering fro my son and his family who live in Canada :)
I signed up to your mailing list before!
I get frustrated by eating out because I have high expectations that are rarely met. So I love to cook at home! More control, better flavor, and this cookbook would be great to add to the mix!
Hi, I approach cooking like painting a picture. I come up with new creations daily and trust my intuition and tastebuds. I am also gluten free and dairy free so I often create alternatives to the things I cannot eat and other recipes. I like the challenge of making them better and with less time and mess.
I see a vision in my head first and if I don’t have everything I need, can make what I have work. Like lately I have been using Chia powder in place of eggs as a binder. I also like to apply health knowledge to the foods I prepare to make them nutritious as well as appealing.I prefer my own cooking because I know the quality of ingredients in the foods in terms of spices, oils, non gmo’s, organics, etc. You cannot expect others to be well informed about what they are serving you. How many times have I found out that many do not know that white flour is from wheat flour. I am not a big eater, so quality counts
Usually I’ll go a few weeks being really great at making menus and lists and shopping once a week and planning perfectly. Then it’ll degrade to still cooking, but going to the store every day rather than just once a week. After a few weeks of this, it degrades even further to eating out all the time. Eventually the pendulum swings back and I start the process all over :P
I love cooking! I do most of it in our home and most days it’s how I unwind and collect my thoughts. But there are definitely times I just don’t feel like cooking anything!
I adore cooking. I cook (and bake) almost every single day.
i’m unhealthy and would like to start cooking and eating healthy.
I have to be in the mood. I like cooking when it’s interesting, although I prefer experimenting with baking.
I’m trying to get back to cooking. I typically cheat and eat salads packed with vegggies, wheat pita stuffed with chicken, frozen fish filets seasoned and cooked with cooked frozen veggies. I’m in a rut and I need to pull myself out of it by getting back to cooking. :-)
I LOVE cooking at home! I pretty much never make the same thing twice…whenever I try a recipe, I change it a bit, then a bit more, and a bit more. I love to be as creative as possible, always trying new flavors and ingredients.
I just liked you on facebook!
I’m following you on twitter!
I’m subscribed to your email newsletters!
I love cooking… although I don’t sing when I cook…
I follow you on Facebook
I follow you on twitter
I tweeted
I subscribe to your mailing list… that is how I found out about the giveaway :)
I find cooking to be relaxing, it is so fun to try different spice combinations and different ways to cook vegetables. Cooking blogs are now my favorite to read, there are so many inspiring sites!
I love cooking except when I have a migraine! It can get a bit complicated though, since I am gluten and dairy intolerant. A small corner of the kitchen is allowed for gluten, i.e. bread, the rest is gluten free. My daughter is vegetarian and my husband has cancer so I cook mainly veggie meals, however since our son who has ME/CFS doesn’t like veg, I have to cook healthy meals separately for him. Anyways, I am always trawling the net for veggie recipes using produce in season, and this book looks like it has a lot of inspiring meals!