Summer vegetable tray bake

At the very end of summer, and even into early Autumn, my favourite vegetables are in abundance and at their very ripest and best. Not to mention just about affordable (don't get me started on fresh fruit and vegetable prices!).

I often end up making the most of this by buying more than I can practically eat. So it's great to have some tricks up your sleeve of ways to use them, to make sure they don't end up in the bin... so sad!

A really quick way I use to clean out my fridge vege bin, is to slice them up and chuck them altogether in a tray bake. I made one this weekend by tossing together the tomatoes and capsicums that had been lurking around (from last week's market?!) and were probably a bit past being eaten 'fresh'. I mixed them with some black olives, feta cheese, herbs, crushed garlic cloves and a generous amount of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Then turned it all out onto a baking paper lined oven tray.

Most vegetable combos will work, you just need to ensure that you're cutting them up into appropriate sizes so they're all cooking and ready around the same time.

Bake at 150c for 30 mins to slow roast the tomatoes for maximum flavour, then turn up the heat to 210c for another 10 mins until the edges all start to brown and char.

Leave to cool on the tray. You can take your vegetable mixture, add a little more olive oil and store in your fridge. It keeps for 1-2 weeks if it's covered - keeping it in a jar with a tight-fitting lid works well.

Use your summer vegetables to:

• top sourdough toast for bruschetta

• stir through cooked pasta to make a quick and easy sauce

• mix with scrambled eggs, or an omelette, for a summery burst of flavour

• add to a quiche or frittata mix

• serve with steak or chicken, with a green salad, for a quick meal
  

I used mine for bruschetta, spreading the toast with pesto first, them heaping the vegetables on top, and finishing off with a drizzle of olive oil. Such a delicious, speedy week-night dinner or lazy weekend lunch.