I turned my oven on for you.

Everyone is complaining endlessly about the summer heat, but after surviving two Chicago winters it seems ungrateful to complain about being warm. I think the Vietnamese side of me relishes the humidity and heat of the summer sun, at least that's what I tell myself. I tan effortlessly and rarely burn (I know, you hate me now) and love spending my days lounging with a book by the lake for hours on end. But turning on the oven is really a different story. We rarely turn on our air conditioner, but with the oven cranked to 400 degrees I'm begging for some relief.

I got the idea for this vegetable side dish from talking to my mother, watching Rachel Ray, and a similar recipe I found online. It's easy enough to throw together and makes great use of my favorite summer vegetables: tomatoes, squash, and zucchini.

After sauteing shallots and garlic together for the base, I made a breadcrumb topping using panko and anchovies. I happen to love anchovies, but if you don't, wait until you try this. Melting the anchovies in butter and tossing it with panko and pecorino cheese is an awesome topping for these vegetables. The salt from the anchovies enhances the overall flavor of the dish and any fishiness is cooked away in the butter. Only the cook will know anchovies are present, I promise no one will notice!

I covered a small square baking dish with the shallots and garlic mixture then tossed the vegetables with olive oil, garlic powder, fresh thyme, salt & pepper. I lined them up like soliders and covered them with the panko breadcrumb mixture and made sure I stuffed the crevices between each slice. After only 15 minutes in the oven this dish is good to go. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Now I'm off to the Pitchfork music festival to listen to some of my favorite bands like, Yo La Tengo! Until next time!

 Roasted Summer Veggies w/Panko Topping
 serves 6 as a side

for the base
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 large shallots, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced

for the middle
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large or 2 medium zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch
1 large or 2 medium squash, sliced 1/4 inch
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
salt & pepper

for the topping
2 tablespoons butter
1 can anchovies, coarsely diced
1 cup panko
1/2 cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese (Parmesean or an Italian blend would also work well)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat butter and olive oil together in a large skillet and saute shallot for 3 mintues, add garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Slice zucchini, squash, and tomato and place in a large bowl. Cover with olive oil, garlic powder, fresh thyme, salt & pepper, mix well.

For the topping: Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add anchovies and heat through for 2-3 minutes. Add panko and toast for 2-3 minutes more, stirring constantly. Add cheese and remove from heat.

In square baking dish cover the bottom evenly with half of the shallot and garlic mixture. Place vegetables in three rows alternating between the squash, zucchini, and tomato. Add the remaining shallot and garlic mixture over the top of the vegetables and cover with panko topping, making sure to get into the middle of each vegetable slice with the panko. Heat in the oven for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender but not mushy. Let cool, top with extra thyme for garnish, and serve.