So we finally managed to put in our vegetable garden this year - and what a garden it has been! We planted zuchinni, yellow squash, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes in the 16 x 20 space. To keep the critters out, including the many deer that graze in our backyard, we had to build a 6 foot high fence around the space.

My parents came for their annual visit just before we put in the garden. While they were with us, we enjoyed many of my mom’s wonderful home-cooked dishes. One of our favorite recipes was my mom’s ratatouille. My parents make it every summer since it is the perfect recipe to utilize an abundant harvest of veggies.

I cooked a batch of it last week and it was delicious! All of the veggie ingredients came from our garden, with the exception of the onion and the zuchinni (since the ground hogs managed to wipe ours out entirely, early in the season).

Here’s the recipe:

RATATOUILLE

1 medium eggplant, cubed
2 small or 1 large zuchinni, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
3/4 onion, chopped

Saute the ingredients on med. high in 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil. Add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste. While the veggies saute, cut up the equivalent of two 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes. Add two packets of spenda or two tablespoons of sugar to the tomatoes. If they are especially juicy, you can add cornstarch or flower to thicken them up. Then toss the diced tomatoes into the pan and stir to heat everything together.

Bon appetit!