Ratatouille and Red Lentils

So, we're going to start with these ingredients.



1 medium zucchini
1 white onion
1 baby eggplant
3 plum tomatoes
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup of red lentils
3 cups of low sodium vegetable stock
A few leaves of cilantro or parsley

Seasonings, used as desired:

Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Curry powder
Black mustard seed
Chili flakes
Balsamic vinegar
Lemon juice

We're going to slow roast the vegetables on a sheet pan.



If we did good, we can put something together that looks like this...



...or this.



Time to get out the big knife. Slice the zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and onions into 1/4 inch thick or thinner rounds. You can peel the zucchini and eggplant or partially peel them like I did. The stripes look nice.

Thinly slice 6 cloves of garlic.

The red pepper and yellow pepper get cut into squares. Halve the pepper, remove the stem and seeds. Cut each half in half. Trim the curly round ends. Stack the slices and cut width-wise in the middle. Looking at the picture above I think I would have been better off slicing each quarter into thirds. Bottom line: Cut the peppers into bite-sized pieces.

Take a sheet pan and oil it with olive oil. Lay down parchment paper on the oily pan. The oil helps it stick. Oil the parchment paper. Get all the veg (except the garlic) on the parchment. Brush all the veg with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Put into a pre-heated 300 degree oven for 60 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through the roasting process. My oven is hotter on one side than the other. I have to do this. Halfway through, throw the sliced garlic into the tray and be prepared for the roasted garlic smell that will permeate the kitchen.

Make the lentils. Cook 1 cup of lentils in three cups of water or low sodium vegetable stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Longer than 10 minutes and you get mush. Cooking lentils is not like cooking rice. It's more like cooking pasta.

Drain the lentils and season with salt and pepper - at minimum. I used black mustard seed and curry powder as well. I know, masoor dal is not European. Think of it as India meets France. Plus the protein in the lentils make this a complete dish.

The sauce: Season the diced tomatoes with salt, chili flakes, rosemary, sage, thyme and balsamic vinegar. Simmer in a big pot.

After one hour, take the vegetables out of the oven and add them to the sauce. Bring back to a simmer for 20 minutes.

Plate the lentils in the middle of a plate by pressing them into a food ring or cookie cutter that has been oiled.

Plate the ratatouille over and around the ring. Gently remove the ring. Garnish with a cilantro or parsley. Squeeze lemon juice all over to brighten things up.