Ratatouille

I am in a recipe sharing mood and wanted to share this recipe for ratatouille because when I made it on Monday for dinner it brought back good memories and made me happy. I realized that the last time I made this dish was about this time two years ago and I was about 3 or 4 months pregnant with Asher. I was just getting over the "sick phase" of pregnancy and wanted to make something special for dinner (the top picture is the actual dinner I made, don't ask me why I took a picture of it!). The best thing about ratatouille is that about this time of year, give or take a few weeks depending on where you live, ALL the ingredients can come fresh out of your garden-- tomatoes, green peppers, onions, zucchini, eggplant and basil. It is always fun to make things from what you've grown in your garden, and I really don't think there is really anything more satisfying than eating a dish made completely (or almost completely) out of things that you have grown yourself. I should admit that this time I bought the tomatoes and the green peppers because mine are still too small. But even if you buy all the ingredients (because really how many people usually grow eggplant-- unless you are like me and wanted eggplant so you can make ratatouille) it is still a wonderful and incredibly easy dish. Besides I heard an old wives tale once that said eggplant is suppose to help induce labor... hmmm... maybe I'll have to make it again soon :)