Ratatouille

When I am in France, I love to go grocery shopping (quelle surprise, I know!)  Often, one can find a bundle of vegetables already grouped and ready to make ratatouille, which is what inspired me to create my own recipe for it.  I bought the same veggies, read the ingredients on a canned version, and after a few tries, settled on this as my version.

Ingredients:

2 bell peppers (can be any color; I prefer orange or yellow), chopped

3 small to medium yellow onions, chopped

olive oil

2 tsp. minced bottled garlic

2 small zucchini, chopped

1/2 large or 1 small eggplant, cut in small cubes (size of dice)

3 small cans of crushed or diced tomatoes (14 oz size)

1 small can tomato sauce (8 oz. size)

herbes de provence (or: basil, thyme, parsley, and rosemary)

salt

pepper

lemon juice

Instructions:

Note: Normally when I make this, I cook the ingredients in the order I have them listed above.  This time, I started with the zucchini and eggplant just to see if it would work, which it did, and thus will be the order of the instructions and pictures.  I can't say that I have any particular preference.

1. In a large pot (5 qt. or larger), cook zucchini and eggplant with about 1 to 2 T. of olive oil over medium heat until the vegetables begin to soften and brown slightly:

2. Add the onions and garlic, and a splash more olive oil if needed.  Cook until onions begin to soften:

3. Add the peppers and cook until they begin to soften:

(not sure why this picture will not change orientation for me; will fix when I know how lol!)

4. Add the remaining ingredients; concerning the spices--I add them generously, and the lemon juice is just a squeeze.  Turn heat down to medium low or low (depending on your stove) to simmer for 30 minutes:

Enjoy ratatouille by itself as a nice vegetarian dish or a lovely side that pairs well with many main dishes.  I most often eat it with a side of plain rice and some feta cheese (not at all French, but sure is a tasty combo, let me tell you!  I'll add a picture of that soon :))