Recipe: Summer Ratatouille

“I dedicate this dish to my sister because she is vegetarian. This was a challenging vegetarian dish to make!”

– Chef Genevieve

Recipe grade: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The recipe in three words: colorful, crunchy, earthy!

Where I discovered it: I got the recipe from Chef Tom at the East Aurora Country Club.

Cooking Partner: My sister Lauren

What I liked about this recipe: It is vegetarian and also it’s all veggies! I like everything about it. It was really good with the shrimp.

Thoughts for next time: I would try the same ingredients with the ratatouille but a different protein. I think any protein you would like would be good with it, but if it’s tofu put it on the side because some people don’t like or are allergic to soy.

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant, peeled and large dice
• 2 zucchini or yellow squash, large dice
• 1 onion, small dice
• 1 red pepper, seeded and large dice
• 1 large tomato, seeded and large dice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• fresh basil, minced
• fresh thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of tomato juice (like V8)
• olive oil

Recipe:

1. Lay the cubed eggplant and zucchini/squash out on flat surface. Sprinkle with salt. Wait twenty minutes. Dab with paper towel to remove excess water. Optional: flip over veggies and repeat to remove more water.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add eggplant, zucchini/squash, and onion and cook until tender.
3. Add the pepper, tomato, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper to taste and mix well.
4. Add the cup of tomato juice. Turn heat to low and cover pot. Cook 15-20 minutes until tender.
5. Optional: serve over a grain and with a protein on top. We did brown rice and shrimp!
6. Enjoy!