Ratatouille became famous world wide after the release of the animated film, featuring a super cute rat that can cook, almost everyone has seen the movie, but before that the name was already very popular in France. In fact, Ratatouille is a classic French dish, original from the Provence region and it stands for stew, a highly nutritious and vegetarian stew. It’s a very colourful and fragrant dish, and a good example how delicious comfort food can be also healthy. It can be specially handy when you need to feed a large amount of people, what makes it perfect for family dinner meals.

Although the traditional way to prepare it is only with vegetables and herbes (fits right in the vegetarian and vegan categories), this is a different take on the French classic, adding some lean meat for extra protein and flavour. Also the one-pot version makes it easier to prepare and a lot less messier. So, how they say in France Bon appétit!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 1 eggplant
• 1 zucchini
• 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 green pepper
• 2 large tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups chicken breast cutted into pieces
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Wash and clean the peppers and than cut them into little cubes, roughly chop the onions. Place the onions and the peppers on a pot with the olive oil, some salt and the dried thyme. Stir until soften.
2. Meanwhile, cut the zucchini and eggplant into 1 inch cubes. Core the tomatoes and cut into 1 1/2 inches dices.
3. When the peppers are softer and the onions had reached a golden brown color add the tomato paste, stir for few seconds and add the water. Next add the zuchini, eggplant and tomatoes cubes. Let it cook until soften and stir occasionally.
4. When the zucchini and eggplant are almost cooked add the chicken pieces and season as taste, stir for a few more minutes until the chicken is cooked. Sprinkle the chopped parley on top.