A Favorite: Chickpea Ratatouille

It seems I've been testing new recipes forever.  Now that I have this new book completed, I can leisurely get back to some of my very favorite recipes.  Like Chickpea Ratatouille.  This recipe is from Vive le Vegan!, and will always be in my top-picks.

I only wish I had photographs in that book.  It was early in my cookbook career and I didn't have the greatest impressions of food photography and styling from my first cookbook, so I didn't push for any in Vive.  If I could go back, that Chickpea Ratatouille would definitely be in color!

I've posted about this recipe before, but you should have a new photo.  I made it just this past weekend, and loved every bite.  We usually have it with rice, and a side salad, but I could eat it straight up.  Crusty bread is also good on the side, and leftovers are amazing in salads, to top pizza, or in lunch wraps.  

We haven't had very any hot weather yet this year, so it was no biggie for me to crank up the oven for this casserole.  But, if it's hot your way, you can let your bbq do the baking!  Just keep an eye on it occasionally and adjust the heat settings if needed, as bbq settings can get very hot.

If you don't have Vive, you can dig in here!

What will I do with this leftover Chickpea Ratatouille?

Make pizza, of course!

Many of you love Chickpea Ratatouille from Vive, but you know how sometimes you have leftovers, but not enough to make a full meal out of? When I find myself in this situation, and I don't want to just refrigerate the extras for lunches... often I freeze the leftovers until I decide how I might 'make it over'.

This time, I realized I had two Vicolo pizza crusts in the freezer (they are packaged in 2's), I realized these nutty, spelt and cornmeal-based (and wheat-free) crusts would be a splendid base for the chickpea ratatouille. If your leftover ratatouille is a touch 'liquidy', you can either simmer to reduce it, or spoon it onto the crust leaving behind the extra juices.

Then, embellish with your favorite toppings, that will complement the ratatouille base. We added some sliced olives, capers, and a fine shred of Sheese (we like a fine shred, but too much is very strong and overpowering, the Sheese varieties are all quite sharp and pungent).

I have more to share soon. Last week was insanely busy. I can't even explain how much I ran and juggled with a birthday, my mom visiting from Newfoundland, preparing for a recital, school activities, etc etc. It was a blur of a week, but was also rather exhausting. So, I leave you with a brief post today, and will be back with more good stuff soon!

And the pizza was fantastically delicious, you must know!

Chickpea Ratatouille

Yeah, I'm BACK! Last week I was wiped out after finishing the manuscript, and had to catch up on so much with the kids and home. Still do, but at least I'm more even-paced and have a bit of a breather. So, posts will be more regular now - until time comes to do all the food photography for Eat, Drink and Be Vegan.

So, let's get to it. First, the winners of the contest... Veg-A-Nut and bbElf (a.k.a. panda). Congrats guys!! E-mail me asap with your mailing address, and which cookbook you'd like.

Next, for a long time I've wanted to post my Chickpea Ratatouille from Vive. It is one of my all-time favorite dishes, though I haven't made it much with all the recipe testing I've been doing. But, a couple of weeks ago I had a ratatouille hankering!

Why do I love it so:
1) Tastes FABULOUS!
2) Though it has a long-ish cook time, prep time/work is minimal.
3) Very healthy, tastes great eating it, and feels good after eating it.
4) Usually a lil' leftovers that can be quickly reheated or tucked into tortillas for a burrito-style meal.

Once you've prepped the ingredients, you toss them all into a big casserole dish, like so:

Then, into the oven for about an hour (stirring once through cooking), then it's ready to serve with quinoa, rice, pasta, flatbreads, or whatever you like. The flavors are abundant and complex without much fuss. This dish is quite low-fat. There is just 2 tbsp of oil in the entire dish, and this can be reduced to 1 or even none if you prefer.

I sometimes mince the garlic with my chef's knife, but this time I used my handy-dandy kitchen rasp. What a marvelous tool this is. Inexpensive, and goes from grating garlic to chocolate to citrus zest (um, not all at the same time!) Get one of these tools for yourself, you won't regret the purchase.


I had some mini-bell peppers on hand so I used the red and orange ones instead of a regular red pepper. I like these little guys, and I've picked them up on special a couple of time. The outer skin is thinner than some bell peppers, and they're cute! See how miniature they are next to this clove of garlic.

There you have it. A simple, ultra-healthy vegan dish. Beans are good for you, and so are the other seasonings and ingredients in this dish. Make it. You'll love it!

Last word: Needed a 'blog makeover'. I like my new look! You will notice that the Google Ads are now at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately, the 'click to give' campaign has not been as successful as I had hoped. You can continue to click over the next few days, but then I will be removing the ad since it is not generating enough clicks to keep blabbering on about it. Whatever we have earned before I remove the ad, I will match that amount to donate to Project Hands. Thanks to those of you that have been clicking all along...