Recipe from the Garden: Ratatouille

I love to make up recipes. I do it all the time now. And while some are better than others, I've found that if I'm using fresh ingredients and taste along the way, it's really hard to go wrong. Not that it can't be done! But I'm getting competent enough with flavors that I can just improvise with ingredients and turn out something pretty good. One such case was last night's creation. What do you do with eggplant and zucchini from the garden that are threatening to go bad if you do not cook them this instant? Why, make ratatouille, of course!

A little research today, after the fact, explains that "ratatouille" is a dish that originated in Nice, France in the 18th Century as a way to cope with my exact predicament: use up summer vegetable abundance. The people of France came up with the name, which is derived from the the verb "touiller" which means, "to stir up". Apparently, true original ratatouille did not contain eggplant (which the British call the by the lovely name, aubergine), but merely zucchini, onion, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and spices. But I say, what veggie dish can't be bettered by a little aubergine? Not to mention that I had one on hand threatening to go bad if it wasn't used. I've heard of several different ways to cook ratatouille, which seems to be more familiar since the 2007 Pixar movie and is appearing on The Food Network, blogs, and so forth. I've heard that you should cook the vegetables all seperately so their flavors stay intact. I've heard that you should add them in a certain order: eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onion, tomato, so that the flavors build. But that didn't make sense to me from a texture perspective, because the vegetables that need to cook the most were added later. I'm a big fan of the "one pot" supper (fewer dishes to wash), and then I just added everything in an order that made sense to me. I seasoned to my own taste. So here is my recipe, which I'm proud to say I made up on the spot. It was not popular with my three-year-old, but my 18-month old gobbled it up.

Ratatouille

1 medium eggplant, coarsely cut into pieces
1 large zucchini squash, coarsely cut into pieces
1 medium vidalia onion, diced
1 large bell pepper, coarsely diced (I had an orange one on hand)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, coarsely cut into pieces (the size of pieces is up to your personal preference)
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp unrefine sea salt
fresh ground pepper to taste,
olive oil, several turns of the pan, more as needed.

In a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute. When onion is almost tender, add one of the minced garlic cloves. Saute about 1 minute, then add peppers. Saute a couple of minutes, and when peppers are beginning to get soft, add zucchini. Saute a few minutes, until zucchini begins to get soft, then add eggplant. When eggplant begins to get soft, add tomatoes. Then add all spices and the rest of the garlice and cover. Turn heat to low, and let vegetables simmer until all are soft and flavors combine.