I love veggies!

The dish I'm going to introduce to you today is one that I probably would have never tried had it not been for Disney movies. I'm sure you're scratching your head wondering what kind of crazy I am. I assure you, I'm not.

I'm a product of a Disney childhood. Belle is my Disney Princess. My family took vacations nearly every year through my childhood to Disney World for at the minimum a week. When I was married to my husband in April 2010, we had my dream wedding which was a Disney Wedding. We were married out off the coast of Malta on our Disney Mediterranean cruise where Snow White came and attended our wedding. Fun Fact: I am the only Disney Wedding who has ever, and who will ever, have a Disney Princess in attendance. How cool is that? Belle was supposed to attend, but was ill. That's OK, I love Snow White, too!

Back to how Disney introduced me to food. Have you ever seen the movie Ratatouille? It's a cute and funny movie that shows that even the most unconventional of characters can become what they want to become and do the things they want to do. As the movie states over and over, "Anyone can cook."

 

Well, through various trials and exciting movie points I am not going to write about, Remy (the Rat) creates the dish, Ratatouille. At the time I knew, but didn't know what the dish was. It wasn't until last year, when I moved here to Arizona that I decided to try and make it. Mostly because it is cost effective and my husband and I had very little money to spend on groceries. The other plus was the recipe made enough servings to feed a small family, or my husband, and a little for me (I don't really eat that much - I know I joke that I eat like a pig, but in all honesty it's impossible).

 

So, here is the recipe that I sought out to make thanks in part to Disney! I enjoyed it, my husband loved it. I hope that if you decide to try it, you enjoy it as well.

 

Ratatouille

 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 eggplant (prepped *please make sure you prep. your eggplant before you add to dish, or you're going to have bitter tasting Ratatouille* and cut into 1/2in. cubes)
• salt
• grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 zucchini sliced (circular) evenly
• 1 lg. onion sliced
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 2 lg. tomatoes, sliced (I prefer Roma - so I used more than 2)

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Coat bottom and sides of a casserole dish (at least 2 quart size) with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir in garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley and your prepped eggplant. Cook and stir until eggplant is soft. Approximately 10 minutes. You can season with salt to taste.
3. Spread eggplant mixture evenly in casserole dish. Sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese. Evenly layer with zucchini. Lightly salt (if desired), and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Repeat this process with each vegetable, salt, and cheese.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

 

Honestly, I prefer to season my dishes with pepper over salt. So, my Ratatouille was more on the spicy side of life than salty. I used very little salt in this dish.

Give this dish a try. You might find you enjoy it. I know I do.