Winter Warming Veggie Ratatouille

Do you like vegetables? I like vegetables. Actually, I LOVE them. I cannot imagine a day without them. We incorporate them into most meals that we eat, whether it's the main star of a meal, a side dish or incorporated into a smoothie. I make a serious point of getting them in there.

Vegetables are the true "comfort food". Vegetables have LIFE FORCE and consuming them regularly are one of the most important things we can do to achieve and maintain a balanced & healthy diet. When I prepare  certain veggie dishes, I like to see how many different colours I can get onto the plate..I feel like an artist painting with a rainbow of plant power. PLANT POWER, YEAH!

Ratatouille is a dish originating from Nice, France which is literally a "course stew" consisting mainly of vegetables stirred in a tomato sauce. It's typically vegetables like eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, onions and garlic stewed in a tomato sauce with herbs and spices. Doesn't that sound nice?

I like to prepare this dish with dry red wine. It's not necessary, you can replace the wine with water or stock...but does it ever taste delicious with a nice dry red!

A quick roasting of the vegetables tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper ensures the rich, sweet flavours of the veggies to shine through. It's an extra step but so worth it. While the veggies are roasting, I start the sauce on the stove incorporating the tomatoes, red wine, spices and herbs to create a delicious sauce that will be incorporated with the roasted veggies.

I usually add olives and feta cheese to the mix to pick up the lovely umami flavour. It just adds a nice little salty bite to satisfy the senses. Baking the dish for about 20 minutes melds all the flavours together then broiling for the last few minutes ensures a nice crispy browned top. Vegetable perfection!

Winter Warming Veggie Ratatouille

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, diced
1 large or 2 small zucchini, diced
3 bell peppers (red, orange, yellow) cored and diced
1 small head broccoli, cut into small florets
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons
1 red onion, diced
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
2 cups dry red wine (or water or stock)
28 ounce can/jar crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes (optional)
1 cup sliced olives
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 cup feta (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400'F.
2. Toss diced eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers and broccoli with olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven when done then place veggies into a large casserole dish.
   
4. Heat a large sautè pan or pot on medium heat. Add olive oil. Cook onions for 4-6 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute.
5. Drop bay leaf in the pan. Stir in wine scraping anything stuck to bottom of pan. Cook for 3 minutes.
6. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, thyme, oregano and chili flakes, stir well. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium - low. Simmer for 20 minutes until sauce begins to reduce.
7. Remove from heat, stir in olives and parsley.
8. Stir sauce into the roasted veggies in the casserole dish. If you're using feta, crumble it over the entire surface.
9. Bake for 20 minutes. Optional to broil for the last 3-4 minutes to slightly brown the cheese.
10. Serve warm and enjoy!