CO Book Lady - Usborne Books

By the time your kids have seen the movie "Ratatouille," they will most likely know exactly what it means.

And, depending on how much they liked the animated movie about a rat who wants to be a chef, and how much they like playing in the kitchen, they may want to make their own ratatouille.

So what is ratatouille? It's a French stew of tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, onions, bell peppers, zucchini and herbs. It's often served as a soup and is especially delicious with thick slices of French bread for dipping.

This recipe for ratatouille, plus many more healthy, kid-friendly recipes can be found in the book "30 Healthy Things to Cook and Eat," part of the Usborne children's cookbook collection.

Each recipe is printed on a two-sided recipe card with a picture of the finished product and easy instructions for kids to follow.

For this book and more of the Usborne kids' cookbooks, go to www.CObooklady.com.  Select "School Age" from the left-hand directory, and then click on "Cooking."

Ratatouille, Serves 4

1 pound (about 4 medium) ripe tomatoes

2 onions

3 zucchini

 
1 eggplant, weighing about 1 pound

1 yellow or red pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning

1/2 can (3 ounces) tomato paste

Pinch of salt and ground black pepper

8 large basil leaves, ripped into small pieces

1. Cut a cross into the bottom of each tomato. Put them into a heatproof bowl, then fill a second bowl with cold water. The crosses will help the skins to peel off in Step 3.

2. Cover the tomatoes with boiling water. After 2 minutes, use a spoon to put them into the cold water for 2 minutes.

3. Lift the tomatoes out, peel them, cut into quarters, and cut out the green cores. Peel the onions, cut them in half, then chop them finely.

4. Cut the ends off the zucchini, then cut them in half lengthwise. Cut them into strips, then into chunks.

5. Cut up the eggplant in the same way. Cut the ends off the pepper, and remove the seeds. Then cut it into thin strips.

6. Put the oil and onions into a large saucepan. Cook them on low heat for about 10 minutes, until the onions are soft.

7. Add the vegetables, garlic, seasoning, tomato paste, salt and pepper to the onions in the pan. Stir everything well.

8. Cook the ratatouille on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Then turn down the heat, so that it is bubbling gently.

9. Put a lid onto the pan. Cook the ratatouille for 20 minutes. Lift the lid, and stir it every now and then. Then remove the lid, and cook it for 10 minutes. Stir in the basil.

Tulsa World, 7/5/07

By Natalie Mikles World Scene Writer