ratatouille, pixar style

I don't know anyone who watched Ratatouille and didn't think, "That food looks amazing, I want to eat that!"  I'm really not a fan of traditional style ratatouille.  The vegetables are cut in chunks too large.  They get a bit un-appetizingly mushy.  Really, not very good.

This I think is a much more improved version.  The vegetables are cut thin so they become soft without getting gushy, plus they are small enough that you can eat multiple veggies in one bit without massively stuffing your face.  And, let's be honest.  This presentation is way better than a boring stew.  I'm terrible at food presentation (I trick myself into saying presentation doesn't matter as much if the food tastes really good), and mine is still an improvement over the stew.

The characters in Ratatouille weren't exaggerating how awesome this dish is.  Delicious, healthy, a great side dish.  I often pair it with roasted chicken and potatoes.

I adapted this recipe from smitten kitchen.

note: slightly disregard this picture.  I only used one zucchini and tomato.

ingredients:
1/2 C tomato sauce
1 yellow squash, sliced thin
1 zucchini, sliced thin
1 yellow onion, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 tomato, sliced thin
2 tsp olive oil
 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Cover the bottom of a 9x9 pan evenly with tomato sauce.
2.  Using a knife or a mandolin, thinly slice the the vegetables.  Stack the vegetables on their sides in order.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkles the thyme, salt, and pepper over the top.
3.  Bake in the middle rack for 40 minutes.  Serve hot.

This makes for good leftovers, btw.  If you, you know, magically have any.