I love to cook and can spend hours in the kitchen creating a variety of meals for family and friends. I often lose track of time and the world around me, simply immersing myself in my own world. However, I must confess that this week I found it a bit difficult, and the usual joy and anticipation I feel before cooking just wasn't there. The very hot temperatures certainly didn't make it easy to look forward to cooking. Therefore, a huge "hats off" to everyone currently working in the restaurant industry. This week, I often wondered how they manage to stand in the kitchen for hours in this heat and still keep all the guests happy at such a fast pace. You truly deserve my utmost respect for this achievement!
Well, heat or no heat, eventually the family gets hungry, and so do I, of course. Sure, I could just order something or go to a restaurant. But that's out of the question for me, because I want to cook for my family at least once a week, and if time allowed, once a day, and sometimes even twice. But how can you cook in this heat without spending ages in the kitchen?
But it's easier than you think. You prepare something that you can pop in the oven (without preheating) and then quickly disappear from the kitchen. Just don't forget to close the door behind you. Of course, you'll check on it every now and then to see if it's done. Finally, you cook a quick side dish, and dinner is ready. Luckily, I always have my beloved Magic Sauce on hand for such occasions. I also often buy little kitchen gadgets that simplify cooking and shorten cooking times, like the preserved lemon recipe I made months ago, which I'll be posting here on the blog soon. They simply enhance everything and make cooking a breeze. This time, they were my saviors once again.
This allowed me to conjure up this delicious vegetable casserole with relatively little effort and minimal sweat. I served it with oriental couscous and, for the non-vegans/vegetarians in the family, also baked chicken drumsticks, which I had prepared the day before and cooked in the oven at the same time as the vegetables.
The whole thing as a video
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And as a download…
Vegan zucchini vegetable casserole with preserved lemons
Ingredients
- 1 giant zucchini
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 4-5 fresh tomatoes
- 1 preserved lemon (or fresh one)
- 4-5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tbsp Magic Sauce
- 3 spring onions
- Salt
Instructions
- First, thoroughly clean and dry all the vegetables
- Cut the tomatoes and spring onions into pieces and place them in a bowl with salt, olive oil, the brine from a canned tomato (or if not available, simply the juice of a lemon). Mix everything well and set aside to marinate
- Meanwhile, cut the bell pepper into pieces and add it to the tomatoes in the bowl. Add a tablespoon of Magic Sauce and mix well
- Now, slice the zucchini into even rounds, approximately 3mm thick. Grease a baking dish with a little oil and Magic Sauce, then cover the bottom with some of the zucchini rounds
- Then sprinkle the tomato and bell pepper mixture over the zucchini, covering it well, and arrange the remaining zucchini on top. Rub the zucchini with the marinade from the bowl
- Now cut the preserved lemon into small pieces and distribute them over the top. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, first on convection, then for about 10 minutes on the grill. Remove from the oven and serve with your choice of side dish and enjoy.
