Easy Ratatouille
Ratatouille is a vegetable dish consisting of onions, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers; fried and stewed in oil and sometimes served cold. It's the perfect Summer dish for anyone with a garden that’s at max production, or you’ve just got a kitchen full of fresh produce that needs to be used up. It takes a little bit of time, but it stores well (leftovers are good cold, room temperature, or warmed again) and it continues to develop flavor the longer that it sits! The great part about this recipe taking a little longer is you can start your dinner prep with this one, get it simmering, and then you can prepare all the other parts of your dinner all while this one is cooking!
For a slightly healthier twist, we've taken the onions out of this one and replaced with onion powder. But, you can use any vegetables that are in line with your healthy and dietary choices! Crusty, toasty bread is a great accompaniment to this dish. Clients following an MRC menu - this is a perfect use of those end pieces of low-calorie loaves of bread! Or you can make it a part of a complete meal - we love white flaky fish and a side of brown rice.
Ingredients:
- 2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 8 oz. eggplant, cubed
- 8 oz. zucchini, diced
- 4 oz. yellow squash, diced
- 4 oz. red bell pepper, diced
- 8 oz. tomatoes, chopped into large chunks (or substitute Pomi)
- 2 TBSP fresh basil, chopped (or 1 tsp. dried)
- 2 TBSP fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 tsp. dried)
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- To taste: sea salt & fresh ground black pepper
Instructions:
- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or pot over med-high heat.
- Add garlic and saute for about a minute (until fragrant).
- Add eggplant and saute for 15 minutes (until tender and browned).
- Add zucchini, red bell peppers, yellow squash, tomatoes, basil, oregano, onion powder, and red pepper flakes.
- Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Note: if you are using chunked whole tomatoes, then your “boil” is going to be very small - the goal is to get everything hot and heated through after about two minutes.
- Cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender. If you have time to let it simmer for longer, then we recommend adding up to another 30 minutes of simmer time.
- Add salt and pepper to taste just before serving and sprinkle a pinch of fresh basil on top.
Makes 4 servings | Serving Size: ¼ pot cooked | One serving replaces: 1 vegetable serving and 1/2 healthy fat serving
