ratatouille-ish

This dish was inspired by ratatouille, and I suppose, in a round about way, by Julia Child. She has been on the air lately, with the Julie/Julia movie release and all the related press. I have always sort of idolized her, watching reruns of the French Chef when I was a child. She was definitely the first "celebrity chef" I was aware of, and I found My Life in France a truly moving memoir. I cried the day that she died, and I think I cried when I finished reading the book. There is something truly inspiring about someone who has that "Aha!" moment, and runs with it.

So. I was at my Mom's house, with Julia Child on the brain. We had a lot of beautiful fresh vegetables from my grandfather, and local goat cheese from the grower's market, and I wanted to make a not-too-heavy side dish. So I sliced up a zucchini, and a yellow squash, some baby eggplants, and tomatoes. I arranged them on a platter, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, the crumbled goat cheese and a generous handful of chopped basil and baked the whole thing for about 20 minutes in a 325 degree oven. And it was delish! You could do this with a variety of veggies, but I liked this particular combo. Enjoy :)

- e