We’ve been reading and cooking with the book, Blue Zones Kitchen.  It’s interesting reading, contains some good recipes, and it fits well with all we have learned about healthy food and lifestyles in the past 10 years and more.  We are particularly attracted to the sections on Sardinia, Ikaria, and surprisingly, Okinawa.

Recently, I made a simple baked vegetable dish, Ikarian Winter Ratatouille, for dinner.

The dish was disappointing in three ways.  First, the timing was way off.  I think it was low by a factor of two, and the temperature needed to be higher as well.  Second, it was pretty bland, not much flavor.  Finally, the photo does not match the recipe well; different ingredients, vegetables cut in different sizes, etc.

The next day, however, I made a much-improved version with the leftovers.  I preheated a heavy, hammered steel pan, and then added a little olive oil, the leftover baked vegetables, some cubes of feta cheese, dried homemade whole wheat breadcrumbs, and chopped Kalamata olives.  With the broiler on high (and watched carefully to prevent burning), it became a crispy, flavorful rendition.  I enjoyed it with a glass of 2018 Corte Gardoni Bardolino Le Fontane.