Ratatouille

This is a great dish to fix in the summer when the veggies are ripe and the herbs are fresh out of your garden.

It is a simple dish that takes a little love & extra work to prepare but I think it’s worth the effort!

Here it is!

Ingredients:
– olive oil ( to lightly coat baking dish )
-1 egg plant
-1 zucchini
-1-2 yellow squash
-1 yellow onion
-1 red bell pepper
-1 green bell pepper
-2-3 cloves garlic pressed
– 1/4 c fresh chopped basil
-1/4 c fresh chopped parsley
– salt & pepper to taste
– paprika sprinkled on top if you want

Directions:
– lightly coat a baking dish with olive oil
– wash and prep all your veggies by thinly slicing them (just make each as thin as you can.)
-arrange the veggies in a pattern (ie: eggplant, onion, squash, green bell pepper, zucchini, tomato, red bell pepper and this over and over until the dish is full. You might need to scoot the veggies together a little so they are more tightly together in the baking dish- do this as you go and this will help you to fit in most of the veggies)
– tuck finger fulls of garlic, basil, and parsley in between some of the layers of the veggies.
– sprinkle with salt & pepper and paprika on top and any leftover garlic & herbs.
– cover with foil and bake at 375 for 30 mins then uncover in the oven for 5 additional minutes then serve!

I served this ratatouille with a steamed carrot, cauliflower, and parsnip mash- topped with raw sunflower seeds. They were perfect together.
For dessert, we had banana and peanut butter shakes. It was the perfect end to a light and fresh meal!

* this ratatouille would be great served on some angel hair pasta too.