Tomato Eggplant Zucchini Bake with Garlic and Parmesan

posted on July 3, 2017

One of the most difficult fantasies for me to give up when we bought our house was having a garden. After six years of living in an apartment, I had romantic visions of planting my own vegetables, harvesting them with care, and using them to make beautiful summer recipes like today’s Tomato Eggplant Zucchini Bake.

Tomato Eggplant Zucchini Bake with Eggplant Garlic and Parmesan. A gorgeous and easy way to use up extra summer veggies! {healthy, low carb, gluten free} Recipe at wellplated.com | @wellplated

My produce dreams were circumvented by flora and fawna. Our lot is filled with sweeping oak and maple trees which, while pretty, make the yard too shady to support even the hardiest of plants. The only place that receives any direct sunlight is our driveway.

Even if Ben did sign off on replacing the concrete with rows of homegrown tomatoes and zucchini, the friendly pack of neighborhood deer, who like to help themselves to everything above ground, would eat them for lunch.

In some ways, the lack of sun and hungry neighborhood wildlife are a bit of a relief. As much as I romanticize gardening, I know it is a labor of love and that (much like of the rest of our yard) there would be many weeks where I would neglect it for the chance to spend time with friends or soak in this view.

Turn extra summer veggies into this easy, gorgeous Tomato Eggplant Zucchini Bake with Garlic and Parmesan. One of our favorite summer side dishes! Recipe at wellplated.com | @wellplated

Not having a garden of my own to tend also gives me the opportunity to rely on (and support!) the hardworking local farmers who already grow a gorgeous array of summer treasures like the fresh eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes in today’s recipe.

Healthy Zucchini Tomato Casserole with Garlic and Parmesan. Recipe at wellplated.com | @wellplated

Unlike our Madison apartment where I lived steps from the nation’s largest producers-only farmer’s market, our location in Milwaukee doesn’t offer the same amenity. We have a splattering of local farmers markets, and one of my goals this summer is to visit at least three new ones (so far, I’ve made it to one. Best get on it!).

In between, I’m fortunate that our local grocery store Pick ‘n Save works with more than 100 farmers to offer customers the best of local produce in store. I feel happy knowing that even if I can’t make it to a farmers market, I’m still supporting our state growers when I shop.

Tomato Eggplant Zucchini Bake is a gorgeous and easy summer side filled with Italian flavor. A great way to bake eggplant or zucchini! Recipe at wellplated.com | @wellplated

Every summer, zucchini and tomatoes have the run of our refrigerator, a problem that you wouldn’t suspect someone with a garden-free yard to have. Every time I walk into the grocery store, I can’t seem to prevent myself from tossing a few extra into my cart “just in case.”

Today’s recipe came about on a summer night a few years ago, when I was in a rush to make dinner and frustrated by the self-inflicted zucchini supply usurping every surface in our kitchen. I decided to simply chop all of the vegetables dominating our fridge, coat them in a reliable trio of olive oil, garlic, and Parmesan, and bake them together to see what happened.

Easy CHEESY Zucchini Bake with Tomato, Eggplant, Garlic, and Parmesan. The best way to use up extra garden veggies! Recipe at wellplated.com | @wellplated

Forty-five minutes later, this Tomato Eggplant Zucchini Bake emerged in a cacophony of colorful glory, and my home was perfumed with the aroma of an Italian grandmother’s kitchen. As I breathed in its rich, garlicky scent and gazed at the rainbow of veggies in the dish, I marveled at the wonderful fact that a recipe can be so astonishingly simple and breathtakingly beautiful at the same time.

Garlic Parmesan Tomato Zucchini Bake. A simple, beautiful summer side dish. Just ONE bowl! Healthy, low carb, gluten free, and perfect for extra summer veggies. Recipe at wellplated.com | @wellplated
Since I first posted this recipe two years ago (throwback to 2015!), it has become a reader favorite. I wanted to reshare it today, because if your buying habits are anything like mine, I see a lot of zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes in your near future too.

I tweaked the recipe to make the directions even easier to follow and added a fun step-by-step recipe video, which you can watch below.

Two final recipe notes:

ONE: this Tomato Eggplant Zucchini Bake makes a striking impression in more ways than one. In addition to its stunning array of colors and aroma, the garlic flavor is not shy. I’d suggest avoiding in on a first date…unless, of course, you are looking to circumvent the first kiss or wish to live dangerously, in which case, bon appétit.

TWO: As the summer goes on and eggplant becomes larger and more mature, its taste can be a little bitter. To avoid this, before making the recipe, slice and salt the eggplant, let it rest for 10 minutes, then pat it dry with paper towels.

For a step-by-step of how to make this Tomato Eggplant Zucchini Bake, watch this short recipe video:

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5 / 5 (15 Reviews)

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