Ratatouille
Dennis and I have made a commitment to eat healthier and to eat environmentally, which roughly translates as eating more vegetables that are grown locally and that are in season, and cutting back on meat drastically. In practice, this means having at most two poultry/seafood/meat dinners per week. Everything else would be vegetables and grains.
Thus far, the greatest challenge comes from cooking creatively and adapting our palate to a diet less rich. The funny thing is, even though I was mostly vegetarian for some 17 years of my life ("mostly" because I allowed myself fish and seafood from time to time), and would still be if not because of baby, I was better and more creative when it came to cooking meat than vegetarians. My vegetables were simply cooked and served. The two staple were salads or parboiled vegetables dressed with only olive oil and salt. For us to stick to our commitment, this would have to change.
So far, we have found a few more recipes we like and which we intend to make frequently. Ratatouille is one of them. We made this before - with and without following a recipe. The last one we made was based on a recipe by Anna Thomas. Dennis made it and the result was wonderful. It was not heavily seasoned but it was very fresh tasting. It was in fact far, far better than the Thomas Keller version we tried. The recipe follows. Incidentally, the picture here is what I had for lunch on Saturday last. It consists of the brown rice tabouli, hummus and Ratatouille as mentioned in the blogs before.
2 lbs young, firm Eggplants, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice.
Salt to taste
2 lbs Zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch dice
6 cloves Garlic, chopped
3 large onions, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 lbs red and green peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 cups Tomato Sauce (we used Mario Batali's version instead of Anna Thomas's, simply because we had it already)
2 tbs Olive Oil
handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley
handful of chopped fresh basil
1 tbs balsamic Vinegar
fresh-ground Black Pepper to taste
3 large, red Tomatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
Toss the cut eggplants with a generous amount of salt and put them in a colander, over a bowl, to drain for at least 45 minutes. Treat the Zucchini similarly.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan at least 12 inches wide. Add the garlic and stir it for 1 minute. Add the chopped onion and a dash of salt and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and just beginning to color.
Briefly rinse the eggplant and zucchini in cold water and press them gently to squeeze out excess moisture. Add the eggplant and zucchini to the onion s with a scant teaspoon of salt. Stir frequently for next 6 to 7 minutes. Add the peppers and the tomato sauce, cover, reduce the flame, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Uncover the pan and if the ratatouille looks to much like a soup, simmer it uncovered for a while until it is a thick stew. Add the chopped herbs, the vinegar, and season according to taste. Stir in the cut-up tomatoes and simmer for another 2 minutes or so to heat through. Serve.
Note: We halved the recipe and it still fed the two of us a couple of days.
Thus far, the greatest challenge comes from cooking creatively and adapting our palate to a diet less rich. The funny thing is, even though I was mostly vegetarian for some 17 years of my life ("mostly" because I allowed myself fish and seafood from time to time), and would still be if not because of baby, I was better and more creative when it came to cooking meat than vegetarians. My vegetables were simply cooked and served. The two staple were salads or parboiled vegetables dressed with only olive oil and salt. For us to stick to our commitment, this would have to change.
So far, we have found a few more recipes we like and which we intend to make frequently. Ratatouille is one of them. We made this before - with and without following a recipe. The last one we made was based on a recipe by Anna Thomas. Dennis made it and the result was wonderful. It was not heavily seasoned but it was very fresh tasting. It was in fact far, far better than the Thomas Keller version we tried. The recipe follows. Incidentally, the picture here is what I had for lunch on Saturday last. It consists of the brown rice tabouli, hummus and Ratatouille as mentioned in the blogs before.
2 lbs young, firm Eggplants, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice.
Salt to taste
2 lbs Zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch dice
6 cloves Garlic, chopped
3 large onions, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 lbs red and green peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 cups Tomato Sauce (we used Mario Batali's version instead of Anna Thomas's, simply because we had it already)
2 tbs Olive Oil
handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley
handful of chopped fresh basil
1 tbs balsamic Vinegar
fresh-ground Black Pepper to taste
3 large, red Tomatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
Toss the cut eggplants with a generous amount of salt and put them in a colander, over a bowl, to drain for at least 45 minutes. Treat the Zucchini similarly.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan at least 12 inches wide. Add the garlic and stir it for 1 minute. Add the chopped onion and a dash of salt and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and just beginning to color.
Briefly rinse the eggplant and zucchini in cold water and press them gently to squeeze out excess moisture. Add the eggplant and zucchini to the onion s with a scant teaspoon of salt. Stir frequently for next 6 to 7 minutes. Add the peppers and the tomato sauce, cover, reduce the flame, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Uncover the pan and if the ratatouille looks to much like a soup, simmer it uncovered for a while until it is a thick stew. Add the chopped herbs, the vinegar, and season according to taste. Stir in the cut-up tomatoes and simmer for another 2 minutes or so to heat through. Serve.
Note: We halved the recipe and it still fed the two of us a couple of days.
Comments