Easy Rat-ta-too-ey

I came across this recipe here and it seemed pretty simple (otherwise the "easy" part of the recipe's name would be a lie) so I thought I'd try it out. The first time around, it looked a tad too mushy and dull of colour for my liking, so I tweaked it and I think it was better the second time.

Easy Ratatouille

Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 onions, slivered
• 3 bell peppers, cut into one inch squares (try different colors)
• 2 eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
• 2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy soup pot on medium heat. Sliver onions and add to oil.
2. While the onions cook, chop the bell peppers and add them to the pot, stirring well.
3. Chop the eggplants and add to the pot, stirring well to coat theeggplant with oil. At this point all the olive oil will have soaked into the eggplant, so you need to stir often to keep things from burning until they soften some.
4. Chop the zucchini and stir it in once the eggplant has softened a bit.
5. Chop the garlic and add to the vegetables, stirring well.
6. Chop the tomatoes and add them.
7. Mince the thyme and add it along with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and cook two minutes.
8. Turn down heat and cover the pot. Simmer until everything is soft and well blended - about 40 minutes.
9. Stir in basil and remove from heat.

4 to 6 servings

* * *

What I did was I cut everything first, then only started cooking, adding each vegetable starting with those that take longer to cook. Slicing reduces cooking time so I won't end up with uncooked vegetables later (seeing as I didn't let stuff cook in accordance to my cutting time -- which is a bit slow). By doing so, I end up with a prettier dish as the vegetables don't get overcooked and become all yellow and olive green and gross.

By the way, it is not nicely arranged as per those pictures of true ratatouille dishes because I couldn't possibly do that with a pot on a stove. Things at the bottom of the pot would start burning if not stirred :)

Good luck!