there's no crying in baseball...

...and no sweet potatoes in Ratatouille. Blech! I thought I would add a little winter vegetation to an otherwise summery mix and it did not end well. Next time I will save the sweet potatoes for this awesome "recipe" (if you can call it that, it's almost too easy)...

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients: Sweet Potatoes, Olive Oil, Salt, Paprika

Preheat oven to 400
Slice potatoes into sticks, wedges, or rounds and place in large bowl
Toss with a few glugs of olive oil
Spread on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and paprika
Bake 40-ish minutes, turning once, until fork-tender and browned around the edges

Told you it was easy! The real recipe I wanted to share in this post is from my beloved Moosewood cookbook, "Simple Suppers". Ratatouille is basically roasted summer veggies. It can be served as-is, over rice, or in any number of creative pairings.

We had this as-is with a little shaved parm on top and buttery bread on the side. I mixed the leftovers into spaghetti sauce and served over pasta a couple days later - that may have tasted better than the original dish! Next time, I'll add some extra tomatoes and make the leftovers into Ratatouille Pizza with some goat cheese... Enjoy this ridiculously easy and delicious recipe!

Roasted Ratatouille

1 zucchini
1 large yellow onion (I like yellows for their more mild flavor, but you can use yellow or white here)
1 eggplant
2 tomatoes
2 bell peppers (I used one red and one green)
6 garlic cloves
Olive oil, salt, and pepper

Preheat oven to 450
Chop veggies into bite-size pieces (try to keep everything a uniform size)
* My advice is to chop the eggplant first, then salt pieces and set aside until ready to assemble
Rough-chop or mince garlic, depending on whether or not you like to eat giant chunks of garlic
Combine veggies in a large bowl (wipe the eggplant or lightly rinse before adding) and pour oil over, then toss to coat
Add salt and pepper to taste, then spread onto a large cookie sheet (with sides!)
Roast for 20 minutes, then stir
Roast for 20 more minutes, then check for done-ness (fork-tender)
If not done to your liking, stir again and return to the oven for 5-15 minutes
Serve piping hot with a little shaved parmesan on top

Happy, healthy eating!