Ratatouille

I have a couple other recipes for ratatouille on the blog but there's always room for another. This is pretty good but is a little time consuming because you sauté several of the vegetables individually. However, the final product was yummy so the effort was worth it. I served this as a side dish with grilled chicken.

Ratatouille

1 eggplant cut in 1 inch pieces (I don't peel it)
1 t salt
4 T olive oil
2 zucchini, diced in 1 inch pieces
2 red peppers, seed and cut in 1 inch pieces
2 medium onions cut in 1 inch pieces
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 t dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
optional chicken or veggie stock

Sprinkle the eggplant with the salt and put in colander to rest for about ten minutes. In large deep skillet heat 2 T oil, add the eggplant and cook for five minutes-should be lightly browned. Remove the eggplant and set aside in medium bowl. Add another 1 T oil and cook the zucchini for 3 or 4 minutes--getting it browned slightly. Remove and set aside in the bowl. Add the red pepper and sauté for five minutes--then remove and set aside in the bowl. Add last 1 T of olive oil and sauté the onions for five minutes, then add the garlic and cook for about a minute and then pour in the can of tomatoes and cook all that for about 5 minutes. Return all the veggies from the bowl, add the thyme and salt and pepper and simmer for about 20 minutes--if you want it thinner you can add some chicken stock ( I didn't). Top with the parsley. Nice thing about this dish is that it waits patiently while you prepare other stuff. It just improves with sitting :-) I wish I did!