Sunday, August 8, 2010

Ratatouille

A late night at work lead to an early morning out of bed.  After spending some time with the kitties and dealing with the water company, Ashley stopped by to make lunch before we both had to go to work.

It was a great two part lunch.  One part Ashley, one part me.  She used my Chicpea Chicken Salad recipe to make us a couple sandwiches.  I made a Ratatouille.    I have never made it before and I was shocked at how easy it was.  I took a new spin on the dish, while still using nice summer vegetables, I roasted them and cooked the entire dish in the oven.  It turned out great!




Ratatouille

8 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 large yellow summer squash (cubed)
1 large zucchini (cubed)
1 large carrot (sliced)
1 small eggplant (cubed)
1/2 onion (sliced)
15 oz of fire roasted diced tomatoes
8 oz of tomato sauce
1/3 cup of fresh oregano (chopped)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 tablespoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of liquid smoke
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar


Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large baking dish, add the oil, garlic, and onion and cook for 5 minutes while the other items are being prepared.  Once the oil is hot and the vegetables are cut, add the carrot, squash, zucchini, eggplant (i used white eggplant), tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, 1/2 of the total oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Mix well and roast for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, add the liquid smoke, hot sauce, and the remaining oregano.  Mix well and roast for another 10 minutes.


Adding the other half of the oregano works well to give it a strong flavor.  The sugar cuts some of the acidity out of the tomato.

Although hot and oven cooked, this was still a great summer dish.  Tasting like a bit of grilled smokey summer and the light vegetables that are associated with the summer months.  It was the perfect vegetable heavy dish for an afternoon lunch.



Ashley's sandwiches were fantastic.  It is not the first time she has taken one of my recipes and let me try them.  It came out just had I had planned.  It is such a nice feeling to see that people enjoy your food enough to make it themselves.  Just like my fellow blogger Jessy did!  Thank you!  It feels great.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks fabulous! I just made a courgette and potato ratatouille, but yours looks nicer ;-D

Jes said...

What a beautiful ratatouille!

two vegan boys said...

The ratatouille looks beautiful. Yum. I have been wanting to try my hand at a recipe. And sandwich looks good too. You have yet to post a bad picture or recipe. Your food rocks.

Rose said...

Your ratatouille looks fantastic..so colorful, lots of delicious chunky texture. Yum! I love addition of liquid smoke too.

Shaheen said...

Liking the summer colours of your ratatouille.

I totally agree it is such a huge compliment when someone makes one of your recipes and enjoys it.

I've heard of liquid smoke a lot, its not something we get in the U.K, that was until yesterday when I went to Loch Lomond and they had an American section there and behold a bottle of liquid smoke. Of course I had to buy a bottle.

Anonymous said...

i have never heard of liquid smoke. it sounds like something from a fairy tale. can you get it at normal grocery stores??
ame

Bonnie said...

Ooh, ratatouille, that must've been so tasty. The sandwiches look awesome as well... I've never tried chickpeas and TVP together in a salad like that.

dreaminitvegan said...

Your Ratatouille looks delicious!