Day 220 in a Year of my Life

It's pelican time.

It's that time of year when not a lot is happening.  Nature has gone to sleep for Winter, so photographic opportunities are few and far between.

Basically, there are two options - Sunrises/Sunsets or Seabirds.

Just to mix it up - Pelicans AND Oyster Catchers!

Tonight, I made a layered veggie stack to have with our roast chicken (which I roasted myself, so that the meal would be 'gluten free')

I roasted thick slices of eggplant, red capsicum, zucchini, onion rings and sweet potato on a tray in the oven.

In a loaf tin, I put a layer of raw, shredded wombok cabbage with a thin layer of beetroot pesto on top (you could probably use that beetroot dip instead), then eggplant,  then thick slices of tomato, then roasted zucchini, spread with a thin layer of cream cheese, then a layer of red capsicum (skin removed after roasting) then a layer of rice noodles that I had soaked in hot water.

I also made a hot chilli tomato puree sauce, by blending 440g of tinned tomatoes, pouring it into a saucepan and adding a heaped teaspoon of chilli paste and half a small jar of tomato salsa (you know, the stuff you put on tacos?), a t-spoon of caster suger and about 1/4 of a cup of the chicken juices left on the bottom of the tray when I baked the chicken.  I brought that to the boil stirring occasionally.

I then put a few spoons of the tomato puree sauce over the layer of rice noodles, added the layer of roasted sweet potato and on top of that, I put a layer of stemless mushrooms and grated a small amount of tasty cheese over the top.

I pressed it down as hard as I could and then placed it in the oven at 200C for about 20mins, or until the cheese melted nicely and browned on top.

I served it up with the roast chicken and poured some of the hot chilli tomato puree sauce over the top.

It was delicious - especially because I made it up - and you know how hit and miss, made up meals can be!

I'm sorry that I didn't take photos as I made it, and then of the finished product as well - but I will next time!

Today, I am grateful for successful recipe ideas that turn out better than expected, especially with all of those vegetables, full of vitamins and minerals and healthful goodness!

Nite all.