Ratatouille

Not the movie. I’d never made it before (at least not the traditional recipe – I make “try to use excess veggies” dishes quite frequently), but ratatouille is a great way to use up extra vegetables that you have floating around. Eggplant, squash, tomato, and pepper all get tossed in, and you could easily toss in just about anything else. My peppers are just starting to come in, and I have plenty of tomatoes and eggplant, so this was screaming my name. The key, apparently, is adding each vegetable individually. It sounds more intimidating than it really is (I think it’s the Frenchy-French name); it came together pretty quickly.

Ratatouille

Few Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 medium eggplant, diced, skin on
Pinch fresh thyme leaves
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup diced zucchini squash (1 small)
1 cup diced yellow squash (1 small/medium)
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (you can peel and seed them if you would like to expend the extra time, but it’s not totally necessary)
1 Tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste

Add the olive oil to a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring regularly (careful not to burn the garlic) until soft. Add the eggplant and thyme and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. Add the peppers, zucchini, and squash, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, salt and pepper and cook for 5 more minutes, or until everything is tender. Can be served hot or at room temperature.