Eat the Rainbow
#communitycooking

I’m late! I’m late! There is a deadline for this combined cooking/ writing project dear self. Why did you dally so?
Wellllllllll — let’s see. I suppose it’s because:
- I was hoping for some blue lake beans to pick from the garden. I never got any. Our cool weather seems to have stalled their second coming.
- Nobody has been home at the same time for dinner this week. Let’s have it for lunch instead!
- I kept hoping I might find Frito style blue corn chips. Blue tortilla chips will work just fine!
- I can be a procrastinator. Who can’t?
Excuses, excuses. Ignore them all. I’ll meet this deadline head on I tell you!!
We’ll eat the rainbow for Sunday lunch.
Thank you The Solitary Cook for giving us the opportunity to explore our commonalities through the medium of food. We all need to — live to — love to — EAT!
If you missed Cook’s original call to participate, you can find it here. Keep your eyes peeled as I expect she’ll be offering the next recipe soon. #communitycooking
On a cool and rainy Sunday, late morning, I set out to prepare a healthy lunch for my family. I washed, peeled, sliced and arranged the following: Roma tomatoes, green zucchini squash, yellow squash, orange carrots, burgundy beets, orange bell pepper, cream colored garlic and a little green basil. I seasoned with a sprinkle of salt and black pepper.
I popped the scrumptious combination pictured above into a four hundred degree oven, with foil atop the baking dish.
Twenty minutes or so later, the veggies tested perfectly to the poke of a knife — crisp/tender, just right.
I’d smashed the blue tortilla chips and added mozzarella, Romano, asiago and Parmesan cheeses. See?

After carefully removing the foil from the baking dish, I sprinkled the cheesy, crunchy mix on top of the veggie rainbow. Since I did not add olive oil to the crunch mix in the plastic bag, I sprayed the topping generously with olive oil from my Misto sprayer. It worked perfectly and I popped the pan back into the oven for fifteen more minutes.
I shared the rainbow with my husband and teenage son, both of whom are willing and eager eaters.
The conversation went like this:
Me: What do you guys think?
Son: It’s vegetables. It doesn’t rival the fried chicken from yesterday. (We were at a party yesterday. He still ate a full serving of the rainbow dish, which for a teenage boy, I feel is above and beyond acceptable.)
Husband: It would be a good side. It could use a little more cheese.
Me: I agree. What if I put pizza sauce in between the veggies and topping? A little more cheese?
We all agreed I should try that.
I will.
Of the full 9x13 pan, there was only a small amount left. My lunch for tomorrow I expect!
Thank you The Solitary Cook! It is a beautiful, fun, tasty and healthy recipe. I was happy to use some of my garden produce and felt good about serving the meal.

I will gladly experiment with variations of this veggie delight — serving it to family and guests. It will be great for a ladies lunch!
