Rat-a-tat

Did anyone else see that Disney/Pixar movie Ratatouille?
Well I did and it inspired me to find my own ratatouille recipe!

First, I had to figure out what ratatouille is:
ra-ta-touilleNoun: A vegetable dish consisting of onions, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers, fried and stewed in oil, sometimes served cold.

Hmm.How about we don't fry it, instead we saute it? And rather than only using eggplant and zucchini, let's use all the bountiful and delicious squash we can find?
Much better.

Here is my recipe for ratatouille. I've been making it for a few years now (read: ever since the movie came out) and it is always a huge success. The herbs add amazing flavor and it's seriously healthy. Just look at all the veggies in this dish!

Allison's Very Own Disney Worthy Ratatouille
Ingredients:
2 C cubed eggplant
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C chopped onion
1 med. green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T canola oil
1 1/2 C diced zucchini
1 1/2 C diced yellow squash/summer squash/whatever squash you like :)
2 T minced fresh oregano
2 T minced fresh parsley
1 tsp. dill weed
pepper to taste
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
Parmesan cheese
hot cooked pasta

Directions:
Place eggplant in a colander over a plate, sprinkle with salt and toss. Let stand 30 minutes; rinse and drain well.

In a large non-stick skillet, stir fry the onion, green pepper, and garlic in the canola oil for 2-3 minutes.
Add the eggplant, zucchini, and summer squash.
Cook and stir for 5-7 minutes or until the veggies are crisp and tender.
Stir in parsley, oregano, dill, and pepper. Heat through.

Sprinkle with tomato and Parmesan cheese.
Serve over pasta.

*I recommend once you've chopped and placed your eggplant in the colander, spend that 30 minutes getting all of your other ingredients chopped and ready to go. It makes life so much easier when things start to heat up and you're adding ingredients every few minutes.

I hope you'll try this recipe! It's absolutely delicious. We had a nice evening last night (70 degrees!) so we ate our ratatouille on the patio. It's a great eat on the porch kind of dish!

xoxo.