Ratatouille

I had eaten soooo much squash and zucchini a year ago, when that was about all I could eat, that I took quite a hiatus from them and just recently began to add them to the grocery list once again. 

And they really are good. Especially made in a ratatouille fashion.

Ratatouille sounds fancy, and I'm sure there are some out there more award-winning than mine, but all you need is: Zucchini, Tomato, Onion, Garlic, Basil (and I use Yellow Squash in place of the more traditional Eggplant).

This is a batch I made a couple weeks ago. First time I had used fresh Basil in with it. WOW! Makes all the difference in the world. So fresh and yummy!

For this batch, I just chopped the veggies up, tossed in some olive oil in a hot pan and tossed in some Basil at the end. (I also throw into the pan each according to how long it takes to cook - Start with the onions, then squash and zucchini, saving the tomatoes for the end, since you're really just trying to heat them up, not cook them down.)

And here's the batch I made this last time. I've been wanting to make a pretty dish like this for awhile, but have been too motivationally challenged to do so. But, I finally took the time to do it and I think it turned out rather lovely!  :)  

For this batch, I sliced all veggies as uniformly as possible, 'stacked' on their sides in a baking dish, drizzled with my favorite homemade Italian dressing, then baked at about 350 for about 45 min's to an hour, tossing on some fresh Basil at the end.

Being as it's all kinda tight in there together - though I'm sure you could do them more loosely stacked - they did take longer to soften up than usual. But, I think it was worth it! And it would make a lovely impressive dish to pass.  ;)

And... Oh my gosh... I had plenty left over from the last batch, so I threw some together with some boneless, skinless chicken breast that I had generally seasoned with a 'chicken blend' of seasonings and cooked in some olive oil in a non-nonstick pan and a little bit of Swiss cheese melted over at the end... Match made in heaven! SO good!