Ratatouille With a Twist

Well, I lost 2.4 lbs last week, which I was excited about, but gained 3.2 lbs this week after basically bingeing my way through the week.  

We had a birthday celebration and also went out to a buffet, and ... Chinese food.... and ... well, you get the idea.

On a normal week, or month I rarely go out to eat.  

And, I'm really fine with that because I like my own food, I know it's better for me, it's lower in points, results in greater weight loss, I get more food for the points and am more satisfied.  

Anyway, mentally I'm starting over.  

So, I came home and started whipping out anything and everything in the fridge.  

I began chopping vegetables and then ended up doing something a little different.  

After I looked at it and tasted it I said to my husband "This reminds me of a ratatouille".

When I looked up the definition it said:

ra·ta·touille

ˌradəˈto͞oē/

noun

noun: ratatouille

1. a vegetable dish consisting of onions, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers, fried and stewed in oil and sometimes served cold.

I didn't fry this and rather than tomatoes I used a jarred marinara but it tasted somewhat similar to a ratatouille so I'm calling it ratatouille with a twist.  

I hope I'm not offending any purists out there by using the word.  

Ingredients

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 in rounds

1  1/2 cups whole baby carrots

8 oz of cremini mushrooms cut into large slices

2 cloves smashed garlic

1 red bell pepper coarsely chopped

1 medium eggplant, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 cups Classico brand Tomato & Basil marinara

Olive oil spray

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 F.  Spray a deep sided baking dish with olive oil spray.

Place all the veggies into the pan and toss.  

Pour the marinara over the top and stir well to ensure all the veggies are coated evenly.

Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 40 minutes.  

Stir and then re-cover, cooking for an additional 25 minutes or until the veggies are done. 

The only points here come from the marinara which is 2 points for 1/2 cup.

So, you can decide how you want to portion it out.

Tonight I ate half of it and tracked 4 points.  

I wanted something healthy, low in points and filling to help me get back on track.  

It was easy and delicious.

I'm definitely making this again however I may consider adding in additional seasoning next time, such a little Lipton dry beefy onion soup mix.  

I've posted a recipe using that with carrots and it's really nice to get a meaty flavor without the meat and extra points.

So here's to another successful kitchen experiment.  

Happy Cooking!