Hi friends,

Most countries are still in COVID-19 lockdown and after some days I really struggled with cooking healthy fresh meals at home. Take away meals are not really available where I live and a bit heavy on the budget. I also did not have much times as I was setting up my online yoga studio and trying to limit grocery shopping to once a week and I definitely did not want to compromise my healthy eating habits.

So, I came up with a simple weekly meal plan I wanted to share with you. Great for batch cooking, freezing and without a long list of ingredients. Here’s recipe number one: Easy-peasy ratatouille with oven roasted veggies. I love roasting veggies in the oven because I can use the time to do something else and it also gives the veggies a nice caramelisation. Good to save time and add more flavour – a win-win 🙂

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 2 Eggplants
• 2 Zucchini
• 2 Red Capsicums
• 2 Tins of Diced Tomatoes
•  1 Tbsp Dried or 2 Tbsp Fresh Herbs (e.g. Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Oregano)
• Olive Oil
• Half a Cup of Chopped Black Olives
• A Dash of Red Wine (optional)
• 1 Garlic Clove, 1 Onion (optional)
• Salt, Pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (fan-heated). Cut the veggies into big chunks (about
2 -3 cms – including the onion), add to a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, mix through and spread onto two baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake for approx. 45 minutes until they are just about to turn dark brown on the edges – this really adds to the caramel flavour of the veggies.

Empty two tins of diced tomatoes into a big saucepan, (I always add some water to the empty tins and rinse the tins to get out the rest of the tomato juice) add the herbs, chopped olives and garlic and bring to a simmer. Add a splash of red wine if you like and season with salt and pepper. Add the roasted veggies, stir through and it’s ready to serve with pasta, rice, bread or just by itself. To serve you can add some fresh basil – I added a teaspoon of homemade basil pesto and some fresh green chilis. Yum!

It also works well with my Crispy Salt and Pepper Tofu to add protein to you meal! http://atomic-temporary-118473392.wpcomstaging.com/2020/03/22/salt-and-pepper-crispy-tofu/