Easy Ratatouille

I love Julia Child, and someday I'm going to make her ratatouille for the luxuriousness of how long it takes, but I rely on this Whole Foods recipe as a tasty weeknight dinner.

Ratatouille

1 eggplant, peeled, cut into 1" chunks
1 TB salt
4 TB extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 TB Herbes de Provence
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes
black pepper, to taste
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and cut into big pieces
1 large yellow onion, halved, sliced into 1/2"-thick rounds
2 small zucchini or summer squash cut in 1" chunks
1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes
2 TB balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss eggplant with 1 teaspoon of the salt, and set aside in a paper-towel-lined bowl while preparing the other vegetables.

Combine remaining salt, olive oil, garlic, herbes de Provence, chili flakes and black pepper in a small bowl. Put the pepper, onion and zucchini in a large bowl and pour the oil mixture over them. Pat the eggplant dry with another paper towel and toss with the vegetables, coating everything with oil.

Spread vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast in the oven on a low shelf, stirring once or twice, until golden and very soft, 30 to 35 minutes.

Break up the tomatoes using your hand or a spoon. Reserve the juice for another use. Combine the vegetables and tomatoes. Stir in the vinegar. Add more vinegar to taste.

For a more sophisticated variant, delicious days has a gorgeous looking ratatouille soup.