Enjoy Flavorful Produce with Ratatouille

The first dish I ever made in culinary school was ratatouille. I remember like it was yesterday. We were working on our precision knife skills, so everything had to be sliced and diced to perfection. I had no idea how just a simple stew of summer vegetables could be so flavorful and satisfying. If youve never tried ratatouille before, give it a chance. Now is the time to do it! Head to your local Farmers Market and stock up on all the beautiful produce thats readily available this time of year. If, like me, you are doubting whether this simplistic dish could be satisfying, get ready to be blown away. Theres something about cooking with the freshest seasonal produce available that makes flavors stand out. If Ive learned anything, its that dishes dont need to always be so fancy with exotic ingredients we cant pronounce half the time. Totally not the case, especially here! There are a million and one different right ways to make ratatouille. A lot of recipes insist on removing all the seeds from both the eggplant and tomato, however, that can incredibly time consuming and Ive never really noticed a big difference with the seeds there. I love adding a pinch of red pepper flakes for heat as well!

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Jenna Weber is half of the Fresh Tastes blog team. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2008 and, since then, has worked as a pastry chef, bread baker and freelance food editor. Currently, Jenna blogs full-time on EatLiveRun.com where her delicious daily recipes and quirky culinary musings appeal to thousands. She lives in Northern California and, when not in the kitchen, can usually be found on her yoga mat.