I’ve been seeing this recipe being bookmarked on my Minute Meals book long time but I still havn’t done it until last Tuesday…

By the way, Minute Meals, is a 20-minute gourmet menus are always presented with a gameplan: step 1 – make the chicken ratatouille, step 2 – prepare the couscous with roasted garlic, step 3 – assemble the romaine vinaigrette, and step 4 – serve…the recipe serves for 4 and for single serving, just use 1/4 of the total recipe. And, I did not do step 3…while with couscous, I just used the one without roasted garlic and olive oil.

This great French vegetable dish ratatouille comes from the South of France, Provence, to be exact, and in its classic preparation contains the best of Provence’s incomparable sun-drenched vegetables: eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes, plus plenty of fresh herbs, olive oil, and lots of garlic. It is served as a side dish, either hot or cold, with roast meats and poultry; it can be used as the filling, for omelets, or as the topping for croutes. Here the addition of chicken breasts turns ratatouille into a wonderful summertime main course. If you can, by all means use fresh herbs in this vegetable melange. (Source: MinuteMeals)

Here’s the recipe of Chicken Ratatouille, a flavorful main-course chicken dish with 5 vegetables.

Ingrdients:

4 garlic cloves

1 small eggplant

1 pound chicken tenders

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup zucchini slices

1 cup mushroom slices

1 cup green pepper slices

2 medium tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon dried or 1-1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh basil leaves

1/4 teaspoon dried or 3/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Note: I used chicken breast, extra virgin olive oil instead of plain olive oil and substitute basil with oregano.

Method:

1. Slice the garlic cloves. Quarter the eggplant lengthwise, then slice the quarters crosswise. Cut the chicken tenders in half crosswise.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the chicken pieces, season with salt and pepper, and cook, tossing, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove to a plate.

3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add the sliced garlic, the eggplant, pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, salt and pepper, and the herbs. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened.

4. Cut the tomatoes into 8 pieces each. Add to the skillet. Bring the vegetables to a boil and cover. Simmer for 2 minutes, or until the tomatoes have just softened. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook, uncovered, just until the chicken is heated through, about 3 minutes.

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Then prepared the couscous…place 1 cup of water in a saucepan, add 4 tablespoons oil and 2 teaspoon of salt, or to taste and bring to the boil, then remove it from heat. Stir and pour 1 cup of couscous then I cover it and allow to stand for 2-3 minutes. Lastly, add 2 teaspoons of butter and heat again on very low heat for 3 minutes while stirring with a fork to separate the grains.

And ready to serve. For individual serving, fluff the couscous with a fork then spread on a plate and spoon some ratatouille over the couscous…and serve! If you decided to have the romaine vinaigrette, put it in a salad bowl, add the dressing and toss. Place the salad bowl on the table. You can also add french bread on the table but we did not. Then serve desserts, in the book they list caramel custards which lucky we still have some from our leftover last Saturday, so we had it again!

K said he likes it, it taste pretty good but me…I don’t like it, its delicious but not for me! I don’t see myself cooking this meal anytime soon, after all, I have a lot on my book to choose from! And I am linking this French meal with Food Trip Friday and Food Friday. Also, would like to say thank you to all my visitors and for those who leave their comment on my last entry, thank you very much! Very much appreciated and wishing everyone  great week ahead!