Macédoine de légumes d’été

I need to be honest with you: I took some serious liberties with this dish. (Many people would neither recognize nor accept it as a macédoine at all.) However, after poring over numerous articles (especially this one), I knew which traditional aspects of the dish were important to me, and which ones I wanted to discard.

I chose to focus primarily on having a variety of vegetables (many of which are not customary in the dish) on the same platter, simultaneously standing alone and together. I cooked each vegetable separately and with a slightly different seasoning (taking care to ensure that the seasonings did not clash). So, other than my choice of ingredients, what's so different about my macédoine?

I moved away from the traditional diced vegetables, choosing instead to julienne some and leave others whole. As you can see from the photo, I also decided to keep each variety separate from the others, both for aesthetic reasons and for those outlined in the previous paragraph.

So, without further ado: the recipe!

For about 8 servings, you'll need:

+ baby carrots, 1 bunch, green tops remaining

+ baby gold potatoes, about 2 cups

+ 1 red bell pepper, julienned

+ asparagus, about 1/2 bunch

+ 1 medium-sized eggplant, halved and thinly sliced

+ baby squash

+ S&P

+ garlic, 2 cloves, minced

+ fresh thyme, minced, 3 tablespoons

+ fresh rosemary, minced, 3 tablespoons

+ olive oil

+ clarified butter, about 1/4 cup

I roasted or sauteed each vegetable independently, choosing to season those with the most pronounced flavor (such as the baby squash, red peppers, and carrots) with only salt and pepper. I added thyme, rosemary, or garlic to the others.

After I arranged the vegetables on the plate, I found that many of them had cooled a bit past the optimum serving temperature. I heated them in the microwave for about 30 seconds, but you could also put them in a low (170 - 200 degree F) oven for a few minutes. Right before serving, I drizzled everything with the clarified butter. Enjoy!