RA TA Toooo Eeee

Ratatoutille

Ra Ta Toooo EEEe! Flexibile and versatility, this dish ups the cooking ante with a way to learn and use knife skills as you test your flavor buds on a colorful recipe wrapped as a burrito filling, roll in crepes or omelettes, made as a side, a snack, an entree, lunch or dinner . Just don't forget it on the midnight run to the fridg!

 

The last decade plus has seen Americans and many parts of the world exchange cooking for other ways to occupy that time. Realize though that today with terrific information, cooking can offer an awareness of how the correct food can make you and your body a living ball of great health. When you do not cook you lose that connection. Turn it over to manufacturers, marketers and restaurants without personal knowledge of how to make choices that keep you in great shape and you might as well set aside a whole lot more of your harder earned money to piss away soon on paid calls to 'Consult your practioner' when you order!

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/12/23/can-fast-food-really-make-america-healthier/

Think of knowledge earned as savings invested, your annuity to healthy living.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/12/22/u-s-retirement-assets-declined-by-1-4-trillion/

 

Part of that is Ratatoutille, a playful, plate of great tasty health. While this is one example of many versions on the web, if you're not into cooking, why do it? Call a spot where get a quart size of this wonder dish and enjoy eating in or for portable fun!

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more as needed

1 1/2 cups small diced yellow onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 cups medium diced eggplant, skin on

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 cup diced green bell peppers

1 cup diced red bell peppers

1 cup diced zucchini squash

1 cup diced yellow squash

1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Set a large 12-inch saute pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, toss the onions and garlic in the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they are wilted and lightly caramelized, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to a large bowl. Repeat warming the pan and adding a little oil for each of the vegetables in the ingredient list, cooking each individually and adding to the bowl. When you have finished with the squash, repeat with a litte olive oil, add the tomatoes, then basil, parsley, and salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for a final 5 minutes. Return all the vegetables from the bowl to warm together with the tomato mix and serve either hot or at room temperature. Cooking the vegetables individually helps retain the freshness which will be evident in your first to last mouthful!

The Vegetable Alchemist

There are three simple reasons that the world needs The Vegetable Alchemist.

1) Because The Vegetable Alchemist and Vegetable Alchemy represent more than just recipes that are plant based but not plant only. They are organized as a lifestyle in today's smart living that has a much lighter burden on the planet as a whole. Modern science and super wonderful easy flavors are the center of Vegetable Alchemy, ecologically minded for the effect ingredients have on the planet with a clear eye on cost from start to finish, farm to table refined and expanded. The purpose of The Vegetable Alchemist is to teach a new way of modern eating from home kitchens to retail, fast food to fine dining. It takes into account ALL the fantastic information we can integrate now in a world growing past 7 billion;

2) Far increasing numbers are showing that Sports, Fashion, and Everyday Consumers are finally paying attention to smart honest research. We have known for decades that the effects of eating a plant based diet clearly are supported in healthy looks, terrific body, wellness, longevity, and for sure, the pocket book! The Vegetable Alchemist responds by bringing this uber appeal style and lifestyle to a broad based audience;

3) The Modern Kitchen is way behind the times. For centuries, across the globe historic recipes have dictated equipment, kitchenwares, high overhead, lengthy cooking and classical preparations now outdated. History defines them by the country of origin in cuisine. Those consumption driven kitchen's might be great for those recipes but hundreds of years later, today, they result in unnecessary overhead and ecological CHAOS, a true kitchen CONUNDRUM with nothing confidential about it! Most often recipes have NOTHING to do with modern research demonstrating the body's need for more proactive foods rooted in a whole new world of cooking, facts. The last 50 years a routine American kitchen has grown in too many complicated ways. It has been novel but now cluttered rom the effects of trying to sell hundreds of ingredients and thousands of pots and pans. It is time for a change. Everyday meals are not rooted in good health but in marketing. Time to fill your thoughts, your kitchen, your purpose with the VOGUE of The Vegetable Alchemist, practical, fun, real and in the spirit and of a new ecologically minded culture.

Next: the emerging kitchen design for The Vegetable Alchemist.

7 Billion Footprints and Counting

After 35 years of working in the trillion dollar food and beverage industry, I turned my layers of experience into helping companies of all sizes, the tiniest locally to some of the very largest globally. It is a great use of my experience having connections in an industry of such magnitude with multi-talented exceptionals to help. In the last four years I have worked with a fantastic brain trust team in a range of challenges that have had great practical success: product research and development; strategic marketing directives; packaging teams; consumer testing; ingredient sourcing; operational issues; equipment design; start-ups; creative ideation for new ventures; menu and recipe development; manufacturing and distribution, at home and abroad.

A few days ago, early in the evening clients had left and my friend Oscar shook up a couple of tasty chilly cold ones. A bunch of us gathered to discuss a plan to consider business in 2012. The Cocktails...Pure Blue Parrot Perfection! Moments later we had to start to address work in 2012 and our role effecting a planet about to hit 8 billion people. How will that impact clients? At a now crispy compounding birth rate of one per 7 seconds against a death rate of one every 11 seconds, numbers are showing a net gain of 1 person every 14 seconds! In 1950 we had just hit about 2.5 billion people. Almost unbelievably by the 1990's we humans grew to 6 billion! Records show it took humans 150,000 years to get to the first billion by 1850. That means in my lifetime we will hit 2 billion more. And......that last billion took only 12 years!

All during 2011 client issues centered around sales, ' what consumers want ' were the most popular topics. ' You can't stay in business unless you do business.' But NOW how much and how it is done is certainly THE factor we have to help companies add as a factor. We can keep that information under our pillow, hide it fearfully in vaults, or use it with wisdom and integrity. Without exception there is NO WAY we can possibly do business the same way we did when the planet was even 5 billion in this rapidly changing population and ecology. Oscar and I see that companies have to start working at opening their to ideations to foster opportunities that help change the consumption effect by designing products around a future of 8 to 9 billion consuming people. This is not the call for drama but honest proaction! Planet numbers are evident at...

http://jamesjoe.com/joe-taylor/articles/how-many-people-are-there-in-the-world.asp

Oscar and I are adding a plan, a vision, a team to drive the next global economy in more ecologically sensible ways. We know that while we work in the medium of food and beverage, it will take a lot more than integrating a plant based but not plant only diet into the United States, even at a yearly slow growth rate of 1% of the 321 million population to make big impact. OUR PLANET PLAN will take looking at what other big businesses do too. Energy, housing, clothing, water, 'security'....BASIC needs for humans.

Oscar suggests we engage big business: Wall Street, Pharmaceutical Companies, Energy, Social Media to produce sustainable plans. One of us suggests Oscar get some organizational, interactive power point help and share his point of view. Present the ideas of The Green Planet Project on TED bringing the vision to the marketplace. We know that a new collectively positive attitude, no matter how hard it is economically for many at present, could turn the focus to from woes to more positive solutions and jobs that fit a new sustainable lifestyle. Starting on TED with insights into food would be a great way others industries can add their thoughts and get more proactive.

As a food blog we leave you recipes. This time Oscar and I give you food in a different more important way. Taste: FOOD for thought! We can give you 7 Billion reasons to get involved while you count, and that includes, one very important planet. Ours!