Vegetable Strata

This festive vegetable medley is one of my family's favorite side dishes. Not only is it colorful, but it is delicious and nutritious. For variations, make this strata with seasonal vegetables from your garden or to complement holiday fare with winter squash and root vegetables like parsnips, turnips and rutabagas.

Ingredients:

2 cups Green Beans, fresh or thawed

2 cups Celery, bias cut

2 cups Carrots, sliced

1 large Onion, thinly sliced

4 Tomatoes, cut in wedges

1 green or red Bell Pepper, sliced

1 8-ounce can Water Chestnuts, drained

1/4 cup Butter

Dry Mix:

1-1/2 Tablespoons Tapioca

3/4 teaspoon Seasoned Salt

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

Directions:

   1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

   2. In a buttered 1-quart baking dish layer half of the vegetables in the order listed above.

   3. Sprinkle all of the dry mix evenly over the top of the first layer.

   4. Add a second layer of the vegetables, again in the order listed.

   5. Dot the top with butter (1/4 c. = 1/2 stick of butter)

   6. Bake covered for one hour; uncover and bake an additional 20-minutes.

Serves 4-6. To serve 6 or more, double the recipe (do not double the salt). With the doubled recipe, I turn up the oven to 375-degrees for the last 10-minutes of cooking. If you are taking this dish to a party, bake ahead and reheat just before serving.

Support your local farmers' market; buy organic produce, as often as you are able. Local Harvest is an excellent online resource for locating the best organic produce closest to where you live. Use the locator-map or type in the product, city, state and zip code to find family farms, farmers' markets and other places to buy organic produce in your locale. The LH online store catalog is a way to shop for items you can't seem to find locally. Enjoy the Blog Barn, a gathering place for Local Harvest bloggers.

He makes... plants for man to cultivate - bringing forth food from the earth.... Psalm 104:14