Seen the movie Ratatouille? Ever since the first time I saw it I wanted to make the dish. Ratatouille is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish, but it there is much debate on how to make a traditional ratatouille. It can be done in the saute pan, oven or grill, but the typical cast of characters are tomatoes, garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers and a mixture of herbs.
I just love a simple meal of grilled veggies and some sort of protein. Throw in a grain side dish and you’ve got a well-balanced meal. This veggie dish is great because you can really use any fresh herbs you have on hand. Speaking of fresh herbs, I’ve got to get my garden planted soon. Come to find out the last people who lived in this house started a garden so we have TONS of strawberry plants, a potato plant, huge thing of Italian parsley and the rest is unknown. I am so excited there is stuff already planted, but we have a lot more we want in there.
Back to this dish, I love having leftover grilled veggies on hand to add to pasta or sandwiches. This makes plenty!
All you need is some delicious vegetables
a grill and some grillin’ weather!
Can you spot the difference in this photo!? Sorry, I’ve been reading too many of those kid’s activity books with my son.
If you leave the vegetables in large pieces, they won’t fall through the grill. Then you can transfer them to a cutting board to coarsely chop.
Mmm….gorgeous grilled veggies!
Things to do with ratatouille:
- Serve over fish, chicken or steak
- Top crusty bread slices like bruschetta
- Toss with marinara for a veggie pasta sauce
- Serve over rice for an easy vegetarian meal
- Puree half of mixture with some vegetable broth for a quick soup
This looks like a perfect summer meal to me! If you want the recipe to the orzo pasta salad featured in the first photo just click here.
Here is my meal plan for the week. Anyone ready to start meal planning with me? It helps tremendously I promise. You’ll have more delicious dinners and more time to relax, spend time with your kids, work, etc. because you will be organized. Try it this week! Leave me a comment of your plan!
Sunday
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken- served in Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns with Pickles and Onions, Coleslaw
Monday
Leftovers
Tuesday
Southwestern Egg Rolls (leftover in the freezer), Salad with Fresh Mozzarella, Tomatoes and Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
Wednesday
Taco night
Thursday
Teriyaki Tofu with Broccoli, Carrots, Snap Peas and Brown Rice
Friday
Blog Her Food Conference for me (Woo Hoo!!)
Saturday
Blog Her Food Conference Continues
- 2 zucchini, cut into quarters lengthwise
- 2 yellow squash, cut into quarters lengthwise
- 1 small eggplant, halved lengthwise
- 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and quartered
- 2 yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and quartered
- 2 red onions, quartered
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 5 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
- 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
- 2 Tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
- I
- 1. Preheat grill to medium-high. Place all cut vegetables and the tomatoes in a large shallow baking dish, add 3 Tablespoons of olive oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- 2. Place the vegetables on the grill and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time. Remove the tomatoes, cover grill, and cook the remaining vegetables for 2 minutes, or until almost cooked through. Transfer vegetables to a cutting board and coarsely chop (leave tomatoes whole). Place the chopped vegetables and tomatoes in a large bowl, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, oregano, basil and parsley and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve at room temperature.
Meal Prep 101
Cilantro Lime Sweet Potato Salad
Easy Meal Prep Tips For Packing Healthy Lunches
Spiralized Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bake with Goat Cheese {Paleo Friendly}
That is awesome that you are going to Blog Her!!! Can’t wait to hear what you learn!
Sunday: Noshing on whatever needs to be eaten! 7 layer hummus, some mixed olives, random crudite, etc.. Kids are having those Alexa fries with a salad. And I am making this for all of us: http://www.krystaslifeinfood.com/2012/05/watermelon-lime-frosty-or-margarita-and.html?showComment=1337608913059#c1394434398982404921
Monday: Baked potatoes
Tuesday: Gretchen is making a pad Thai dish and an Asian slaw
Wednesday: Sweet potato and black bean tacos(http://brittluck.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/sweet-potato-black-bean-tacos/)
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: pizza night!
These grilled veggies look good. I was thinking about doing a pasta dish like this next week with a rose’ sauce. Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe! We will be trying that one. I am not a huge eggplant fan but I am trying to like it. Might be a good way to try some. Our meals are simple and sure to change this week. Greg is gone all this week for work. Maher is the plan for now.
Sunday- I was going to make veggie lasagna but it was bumped again because my we swam and had taco salad at my mother in laws.
Mon- my boys have their first swim meet @ 5:30. They have to check in at 4:15 not sure how these days will go. I might pack healthy food or just have the family eat there. Any swim team veterans know if you can bring stuff in to meets?
Tues- an Asian slaw recipe to be served over pad Thai noodles and fruit.
Wed- leftovers or simple stuff.
Thurs- chulupus
Fri- homemade pizza night
Saturday- a new recipe for tomato and basil pesto toast. My tomatoes are getting ready in my garden so I am hopefully I might have some from the garden to use.
All those veggies look awesome!
Mel- I hope the conference in Seattle was wonderful. For my meal planning this week, I’ll be breaking out the slow cooker. It’s getting too hot in Texas to have the oven on in the afternoon! I’m also planning to only cook 2, maybe 3, times. We’ll eat leftovers the other nights. First up, a chicken teriyaki served over brown rice with steamed veggies. Then later in the week, a green chili pulled pork for tacos.
Would you post your recipe for the slow cooker BBQ chicken you planned for Monday?
Kristin
Thanks Kristin! It was a great weekend. I’d love to share the recipe. I think I actually took some photos so maybe I can get it up soon! Green chili pulled pork sounds awesome! 🙂