Chickpea Ratatouille

Well, I was a little Nana and stayed home on New Years Eve.  So, with the intent of getting back on track with eating, I decided to load up on some veggies going into the new year!  I got Mark Bitman's new book, "Eat Vegan Before 6pm", which I love and it ties in nicely with my own part-time veganism.  The recipe is pretty easy, the most time consuming part is chopping all the veggies.  Then you just load up on olive oil, salt and pepper and roast.  The end result was really tasty, filling and fresh.  I'm glad to have leftovers the next few days as I head back to work.

Ingredients:
1 lb eggplant (smaller ones are better), peeled if you like, cut into large chunks
3/4 lb zucchini, cut into large chunks
1 lb Roma (plum) tomatoes, cored and chopped, or 1 (28 oz) can, drained
1 onion, sliced (I chopped)
2 red or yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded, sliced (I cut into large chunks)
5 garlic cloves, halved (I chopped)
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
Black pepper to taste
4 Tbs olive oil
3 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, drained
1 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary or thyme, or 1/2 cup fresh basil or parsley (I used rosemary this time)

Directions:
1.  Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Combine all the ingredients except the oil, chickpeas and herbs in large roasting pan.  Drizzle with oil and toss to combine.

2.  Transfer to the oven and roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are lightly browned and tender and some water has released from tomatoes to create sauce, 30 - 40 minutes.

3.  Add the chickpeas, stir, and return to oven until the beans heat through, 5 - 10 minutes.  Add the herbs and stir.  Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

* I added a little more olive oil as the roasting progressed.

This is likely more of a side dish, but it's so versatile you could do almost anything with it.  Last night I used it as a pizza topping on a whole wheat pita with pesto sauce - it was so good!  I already want to make it again.

Hope you do some more home cooking in the new year too!

Enjoy!

Love, Lizzie