ratatouille-esque

tonight's meal was inspired not by a recent animated feature, but by what looked good at the tuesday farmer's market: one big red pepper, and some small eggplants. picked up a couple of organic zucchinis as a matter of course, and cherry tomatoes made it into the mix. peaches and corn were purchased, too, but didn't end up in the skillet. that huge red pepper was only 75 cents! the tiny eggplants were another story, but i just couldn't resist. what can i say? i love stuff that's mini. and they were gorgeous. we don't even eat eggplant more than once a year or so, but these guys were just too enticing.

a classic ratatouille comprises eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and herbes de provence. mine had all the above, minus the herbs, plus a little basalmic vinegar, and served with spinach linguine. look how pretty.

after this point, i added the basalmic and some pasta water, let it cook down a little, then added both halved and whole cherry tomatoes. very tasty. just enough basalmic to enhance, but not overwhelm.

smitten kitten has a ratatouille recipe for those of you who are confident in your knife skills or own a mandoline. yes, hers is prettier.

here's to the season of cheap red peppers. may it bring you many roasted delights.