Ratatouille

or as I encourage others to say, Ra-Ta-Touille!

Eggplants - the signature ingredient in Ratatouille - are cheap and of endless supply in Kigali. Ergo, I began to search for an easy dish to make with them. Not being the biggest fan of making cheesy casserole-y dishes, I settled on Ratatouille.

Honestly, I probably never would have been interested in making Ratatouille had it not been for the Disney movie titled Ratatouille about a rat wanna be chef . However, I hope this same power of suggestion works on my kids and all kinds of cartoon movies come out promoting healthy dishes like, Peas and Carrots and Eat Your Broccoli.

I read over a few Ratatouille recipes online, decided I had most of the crucial ingredients, noted rough measurements, and began.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, cubed
1 medium red onion, diced
3 green peppers, chopped
2 potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, chopped
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
3 -4 cups water
4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
olive oil
thyme
salt and pepper

In a large stock pot, I put 3-4 cups of water on to boil. Seasoned with lots of olive oil and cloves of garlic. (If I were in the states, I definitely would have went for a type of stock, either chicken or veggie and next time I'll only add 2 cups instead of 4 due to the large water content of most of my veggies.- live and learn, I guess) I then began the process of chopping up veggies beginning with veggies that would take the longest amount of time to cook: potatoes, carrots, etc. working down to those taking least time to cook.

Once all the veggies are added, season with salt, pepper, and thyme and that's it! Half way through chopping I put on a pot of rice and by the time the rice gets done dinner is ready. We spoon the Ratatouille over rice and it's a deliciously light dinner; warm enough to comfort on winter evenings, but full of such great veggies that it's perfect for a refreshing summer time supper as well.

You can adjust how soupy the Ratatouille is by modifying the water content and also change up how you serve it. Unlike the chunky version detailed above, Ratatouille can be served as a soup or stew and served with cheese bread or sausage and crackers.

Even though there's a good amount of chopping involved, Ratatouille is worth the effort. It makes a large quantity the leftovers can be frozen or easily altered into tomorrow night's dinner.