Ratatouille

A classic summer staple, make ratatouille when you have an abundance of summer produce. But first, let me tell you my confession: I tend to be too casual when cooking ratatouille. Over the years, I treated it like a meat stew, where you could throw everything in a pot and assume it would be great.
Read the instructions and you'll see how easy it is try and take shortcuts.

Ratatouille is a stew with lots of delicious vegetables, but you want to taste each veggie separately. To do so, cook them separately in olive oil, and just finish the dish off by throwing everything together in the big pot. The exact vegetables that you use, and the amounts of each vegetable are not crucial, so feel free to experiment with the recipe in that way. Let me know how it comes out!

1 small to medium eggplant
2 small to medium zucchini or yellow squash
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic
4 tomatoes, chopped, or 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
fresh basil, parsley, thyme
salt, pepper


Begin by chopping the eggplant, salting it, and setting aside to rest.
Next, sauté the onion and chopped garlic over medium heat in 2 T oil for 5 minutes and set aside in a bowl.
Then, sauteé the  chopped peppers in 2 T oil for 5 minutes. Add it to the onions.
Add 2 more T oil to the pan, and cook the squash for a 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add squash to the onions and peppers.
Wipe the eggplants dry with paper towels, and fry in remaining oil until they start to brown and become transparent. Add tomatoes and spices, and cook for 10 more minutes.
Add all veggies to the pan, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.

This can be served with pasta, rice, or garlic bread and a salad.