Turkish-style Vegetable Casserole

This vegetable casserole is packed with zucchini, eggplant, sweet peppers, okra, and green beans. The tomato sauce is a perfect blend of cinnamon, cumin, and paprika. Serve with basmati rice and black olives! Freeze the leftovers and enjoy this Turkish goodness later.

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 medium eggplant, chopped
• 3 zucchini, chopped
• 1 cup cut frozen okra, thawed and soaked in vinegar for 30 minutes
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (use 1 full tsp if  you want more flavor)
• 1/2 tsp ground ground cumin (use 1 full tsp if you want more flavor)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and black pepper to taste
• fresh cilantro to garnish
• black olives to garnish

Preheat oven to 375F. In a large frying pan heat olive oil and saute onions for 1 minute. Add potatoes and saute for 3 minutes. Add eggplant, zucchini, okra, bell peppers, and green beans and stir fry for 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat. Transfer to a casserole dish.

In a mixing bowl combine diced tomatoes with juice, chopped tomatoes, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Pour the mixture over the vegetables in the casserole dish. Cook in the oven for about 60 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Serve over basmati rice garnished with black olives and cilantro.