Simple Ratatouille

All fresh ingredients for the ratatouille make for a delicious treat.

Ratatouille is a French Provencal vegetable stew featuring tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini), eggplant, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and herbs.  Usually served as a side dish, we love ratatouille as a meal with pasta, over fish or other proteins, and as a dip.  Very versatile, there are lots of ways to make this flavorful medley.  To keep things easy, we offer a one-pot recipe which is modified from a ratatouille recipe found on the Real Simple blog.  (They offer great recipes and food ideas.)

A quick note:  this recipe was made at around 7000 feet elevation.  Cooking times may vary (be shorter) if you live in the lowlands.

Simmering and softening the ingredients.

Makes 3 - 4 cups

3 Tblsp. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
1 medium eggplant, top trimmed off, unpeeled, and cubed
1 medium zucchini, top stem trimmed off, halved lengthwise and then thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, remove stem and seeds, cut into quarters, then into thin slices
1/2 - 1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 - 1/2 C. chopped fresh basil
freshly ground pepper

In a large pan, heat the oil and saute the garlic, onion, and bay leaf over low to medium heat until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.  Add the tomato, eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and kosher salt, and cook over medium heat until the vegetables have softened (particularly the eggplant). Stir in the basil and add a few grinds of black pepper.  Remove from heat and serve.

A batch of ratatouille keeps in the fridge for several days.
 Use glass jars with lids for best results. 

One recipe will make six to eight servings.  The entire stew above offers approximately 580 calories, loads of vitamin C, manganese, and fiber.  Be cautious with your use of salt.  This mix is so flavorful, you really don't need to add very much while the mixture is cooking.  My first batch seemed to get saltier as it sat.

This recipe was made in the morning and it just seemed
too perfect not to use it for breakfast.  Voila, top with a poached egg!
The nieces all loved this.  Toast would be a great compliment.

- Kim Fielding

Sprouted Bean Salad

Sprouted mung beans, green lentils, and adzuki beans get
a kick from pineapple, red pepper and basil.

If you are looking for fiber in a food that actually tastes good, you should try this simple recipe.  Scrounging through the refrigerator, I found fresh pineapple that I needed to finish up.  There you go - the inspiration for this dish.  The beans are available at Costco and other stores.

serves:  6                    prep and cook time:  15 minutes

1-1/2 cups tru Roots sprouted Bean Trio
1/4 cup diced pineapple
1/4 cup diced red pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Oil and rice wine vinaigrette

Sprouted and dehydrated makes these beans
more digestible and faster cooking.  Any similar
bean trio will suffice if you can't find this mix.

Boil the dried beans in 4-5 cups of water for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit for another 10 minutes then drain.  Put the beans in a bowl and add the pineapple, pepper, and basil.   Whisk together 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, sea salt, and cracked pepper.  Add to moisten the salad and serve.  You may adjust seasoning as needed.

Each serving offers about 180 calories, almost 10 g each fiber (!) and protein, and 20% of your RDA for iron.

- Kim Fielding