September 1, 2012 - Ratatouille

As it is the first of September, we decided to celebrate with a new recipe named, Ratatouille. We also had to make sure that we made the evening complete by watching the Pixar movie, Ratatouille. It was....interesting to say the least. It is all veggies, including eggplant, which I have never seen nor eaten before. The dish is relatively easy, with the hardest part being to cut up all the veggies. We had cooked the dish for like 15 minutes before we realized that we had forgotten the tomatoes. So, we quickly added them, and upped the time a few minutes. At the time, we were making bread for some new neighbors, and it finished before the Ratatouille. Well, I guess I accidentally turned off the oven, so there was more waiting. All in all, it was a fun night! The dish is pretty good, especially if you make it according to the directions! haha. 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, salt to taste
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced into rings
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped ( don't forget these!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat bottom and sides of a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley and eggplant. Cook and stir until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
3. Spread eggplant mixture evenly across bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Spread zucchini in an even layer over top. Lightly salt and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Continue layering in this fashion, with onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and tomatoes, covering each layer with a sprinkling of salt and cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving

Calories: 251
Total Fat: 13.5g
Cholesterol: 18mg
Sodium: 327mg
Total Carbs: 24.3g
    Dietary Fiber: 7.4g

Protein: 12.7g 

HAPPY EATING!!!