My first veggie meal. It was great to open the fridge and choose from the abundance of vegetables. What I made is one of my easy favorites. If not on a diet you can pair it with some grilled chicken and still have a very healthy and low calorie meal:
Ratatouille
- 1 chunk of Onion (1/2 small one), thinly sliced
- 1 Bell Pepper, any color (I chose orange for the visual color mix), sliced
- 1 big piece of Zucchini (Summer Squash), thickly sliced
- 2 big handful of Portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 2 small Roma tomato, sliced
- 1/4 cup (or less) vegetable bouillon
Heat a non-stick pan over medium. Add the sliced onion. Make sure the onion does not stick or blackens. After about 2 minutes add the sliced bell pepper, soft sides down to allow them tenderize faster.
You can add now a lid to capture the steam and to help fasten the process and to keep all available moisture in. After another 2 minutes add the zucchini. As there is no fat you need to turn the food frequently enough to prevent sticking but to still allow some browning to occur.
Add pepper and some salt. At this point I also like to play with my mood and add other spices, such as garlic (concentrated liquid or powder) and Provençal type spices or whatever comes to mind. I for one like the spices from Windwalker Farm which sells their own, proprietary blend.
Again, after about 2 minutes add the mushrooms and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Add the bouillon to the pan, this will develop a nice steam, close the lid to capture. After a brief moment and quieting down, spread the tomato slices over it all. Close the lid again and let go for a couple minutes. Remove the lid, turn the food with a spatula and while you do it make sure to scrape up the browned stuff on the pan bottom. All the veggies should be nicely softened without being mush. If not, cook a bit longer.
Serve. Add salt and pepper to taste.
The 2-min routine is only a rough estimate, watch your food, if it dries up too fast you might want to cut back to 1-min intervals.
Following this program make sure you’re not above 1 1/2 pounds of raw veggies if you are also having 2 fruits on the same day.
