Day-by-Day Vegetable Medley

Connie Sorie Dana of Tyler, Texas, developed a dish that she hoped would encourage her husband, Tom, to eat eggplant, a vegetable she likes but he doesn't. What she ended up with was a base for a week of meals. "I just came up with a batch of something that is like ratatouille," she says, "and I realized it would be good over shrimp. Then I stirred some beans and chili powder into it to make soup or added ground beef and Italian seasonings for spaghetti sauce."

Connie enjoys making food that she describes as simple "but not boring." She says, "When I made a recipe that we could eat for a week and not get tired of it, I knew I had a winner."

"Five Fast Dinners Begin With One Vegetable Mix" is from the October 2003 issue of Southern Living.