Vegetable Studel.

I am quickly becoming one of those bird watching people. When I wake up in the morning I quickly check to see if anyone is visiting my feeder. When I have a few minutes to spare, I sit on the porch with my camera to see if I can find some new birds out there. I get downright giddy when I do discover a new one. You should have seen me when I saw my first (and so far only) cardinal perched on my feeder. I was running around jumping through the house with excitement. Then when these little goldfinches (as seen in the photograph) came I had a repeat performance. Happily, these little tweeters come to my feeder often.. at least a half dozen times a day (that I notice). They have the most beautiful song! My feeder makes me smile. A lot.

Dinner tonight was not a failure (unlike yesterday!)! It was a new recipe that I found in my Essential Vegetarian cookbook, and it turned out fantastic. I tweaked it a bit... of course... and every single one of us felt it was a hit. I love it when that happens. I see many different options for changing it up, too. I was going to make a caesar salad with this, but the day got away from me, so we settled for watermelon on the side. It was the perfect addition because it was pretty hot and muggy out.

Vegetable Strudel

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 red pepper, cut into strips

1 green pepper, cup into strips

2 medium zucchini, sliced

6 cloves garlic, minced

6 sheets filo pastry, thawed

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup basil leaves, finely sliced

3/4 cup old cheddar cheese, grated

2 tbsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Heat the olive oil in a wok and fry the onion until it's tender (3-5 minutes). Add the red pepper, the green pepper, the zucchini and the garlic, and cook with the onion for another 5 minutes until soft. Set wok aside so the vegetables will cool.

Place one sheet of filo pastry on the counter and brush with the melted butter. Layer with another filo sheet, and brush it with butter. Continue until all the the filo is stacked up. Place the vegetables on one half of the filo pastry, leaving 2 inches at each end. Add the basil leaves and cheese. Fold the filo ends in to the middle (I used a bit of butter on the ends, too) and then fold the pastry over. Place it seam side down on your prepared baking sheet. Spread with remaining butter, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until it's golden brown. Serve immediately.