Healthy Ratatouille {Guest Post}

We are having a fabulous time at The Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia.  It is beautiful here. As I frolic by the pool for one last time before school starts, Marguerite from the new blog, How to Lose Belly Fat Fast and Naturally, is sharing her recipe for Ratatouille here today.  I personally love eggplant, but according to Marguerite, eggplant can aid in weight loss efforts, too.  I will need to be eating lots of it when I come home because food here at The Homestead is divine, and I've been indulging. 

Be sure to check out my photos on Instagram, and on the blog's Facebook page.

Is it a holiday for you? Would you feel like experimenting on a new dish and add it your biggest meal of the day? You could try some continental recipe that fetches great nutritional benefits apart from gratifying your palates. Let me entertain you with a recipe which I made harvesting a few eggplants at my backyard.

You would love to learn that Eggplant is a fiber rich vegetable and is helpful in the treatment and prevention of colon cancer. If you prefer avoiding mid meal snacking, eggplant will make you feel fuller and can aid your weight loss effort. If you are concerned with adding body fats and pamper your heart with good cholesterol, I recommend you using olive oil as the main frying ingredient. It is a very good source of monounsaturated fatty acids especially oleic acid. Let me not overload you with all the goodness that this dish can offer you and go directly into the details of this great dish.

Ratatouille is a continental vegetarian recipe combining eggplant, zucchini and colored capsicums (peppers). It forms a main course which requires 15 minutes of preparation time and 20 to 30 minutes of cooking time. This will serve about 4 people. 

Photo Credit: Maura McEvoy 

Healthy Ratatouille

Ingredients:

·         3 medium sized Eggplants

·         1 each, Green , Red and Yellow peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces

·         2 medium sized Zucchini

·         2 medium sized Onions, cut into rings

·         3 tablespoons of Olive oil 

·         4 cloves of Garlic chopped

·         1 ½ cups of Tomato concasse  (diced tomatoes)           

·         5-6 Basil leaves , green and purple

·         Few sprigs of fresh Thyme

·         Salt as per taste

·         White pepper, as per taste

Method
Set the oven on preheat mode at 160^oC.

It's best to use a flat bottomed pan, because it makes stirring so easy. Once the pan heats up, dribble some olive oil, roughly about 1 ½ tbsp. Let the oil heat, till the aroma of olives wafts in the air. Add the garlic and onion and sauté keeping the flame medium. You will notice that the onions slowly gaining a baby pink hue and the garlic getting transparent. It is overwhelming to see the heady mix of olive oil and garlic. Now, it's time to add the purple hued diced eggplant, the remaining 2 eggplants to be sliced thinly. It is a point to note that the longer variety of eggplant serves well than the rounded ones.

In a grill, roast these eggplant strips which have been coated with olive oil and salt. Roast till they brown and start to give an aroma. Combine the diced zucchini and tomato concasee along with a cupful of water. You will have a colorful concoction of purple, green and red. Adding the herbs, basil and thyme will round off the dish. Dash white pepper powder and combine all.

To serve, transfer the contents into a serving bowl and arrange the red, green and yellow capsicum pieces. Ratatouille with its colorful array of vegetables is bound to titillate your taste buds.The effective combination of eggplant and olive oil inhibits heart diseases and prevents cancer.

Author Bio: Marguerite being a fitness enthusiast loves to blog on fitness and topics related to fitness. You can check out her latest post on How to lose belly fat  on her website.

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