The Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Summer Vegetable Gratin inspired me. I saw the recipe in the magazine and it looked like it had a cornucopia of flavors at a time when the summer vegetables are looking very appealing. The idea of caramelizing the onions, drying out the vegetables, and adding a savory topping of bread crumbs, shallots, and parmesan looked like it was going to overcome my traditional pet peeves with baked vegetable dishes. Most of the dishes I had tasted were bland, watery messes. This dish promised something else entirely.

Adding the Crash Hot Potatoes was an easy decision, too. This is a twice baked potato that looked easy to fix. The Summer Vegetable Gratin took me about two hours to prepare and will probably restrict this dish to the weekends. The Crash Hot Potato recipe was very simple and could easily be used on the weekdays. I just had to try it.

The final item was a pan seared chicken breast and I had a dinner that overcame even my most reluctant eater, my son.