The first time I made ratatouille for my family, my daughter said it was “just a cooked salad” and asked to put salad dressing on it. I thought about it, realized she had a pretty good point, and gave her permission to add salad dressing.
Allowing my kids to add a flavorful salad dressing to vegetables was an easy way to overcome the battle of getting my kids to try new veggies when they were young. As my kids have gotten older, they have learned to enjoy vegetables on their own. But my they still ask to put salad dressing on their ratatouille. So the last time I made it, I decided to replace the olive oil with Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing when I cooked it. My daughter took one bite, turned to me and said, “this was a brilliant idea!”. The ratatouille was so flavorful, that my kids didn't ask to put anything else on top of it.
Not only was Zesty Skillet Ratatouille more flavorful than traditional ratatouille, but it had fewer calories since Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing has only 30 calories per tablespoon, but olive oil has 120 calories per tablespoon.
Instead of baking the ratatouille, I sped up dinner by cooking it in a skillet on the stove top. This allowed me to vary the cooking time of the vegetables, so that none of them became too “mushy”.
Cooking the ratatouille in a skillet, I was able to create a nutritious dinner for my family in under 30 minutes! You can find more delicious recipes made with Kraft Salad Dressings on KraftRecipes.com.
Zesty Skillet Ratatouille Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups eggplant, cut in bite size pieces
- 1/2 cup Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing, divided
- 1 cup coarsely chopped onion
- 1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 small zucchinis, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 2 small yellow squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 4 – 5 Roma tomatoes, deseeded and cut in bite size pieces
- 1 cup chopped mushrooms
Directions:
After cutting the eggplant in bite size pieces, place it in a colander, sprinkle it with salt, and let it sit while you prep the other ingredients:
Before you cook the eggplant, rinse it and pat it dry.
Add 2 tablespoons Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing to a large frying pan or skillet. Add chopped onions, peppers, and garlic:
Saute until the onions are almost translucent. Then add the eggplant and 1 tablespoon of the salad dressing:
Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add zucchini and yellow squash slices, along with 3 tablespoons of salad dressing:
Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add chopped tomato and sliced mushrooms, and 2 more tablespoons Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing:
Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve the ratatouille over salad greens or rice.
- 2 cups eggplant, cut in bite size pieces
- ½ cup Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing, divided
- 1 cup coarsely chopped onion
- 1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 small zucchinis, sliced ¼ inch thick
- 2 small yellow squash, sliced ¼ inch thick
- 4 - 5 Roma tomatoes, deseeded and cut in bite size pieces
- 1 cup chopped mushrooms
- After cutting the eggplant in bite size pieces, place it in a colander, sprinkle it with salt, and let it sit while you prep the other ingredients:
- Before you cook the eggplant, rinse it and pat it dry.
- Add 2 tablespoons Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing to a large frying pan or skillet. Add chopped onions, peppers, and garlic:
- Saute until the onions are almost translucent. Then add the eggplant and 1 tablespoon of the salad dressing:
- Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add zucchini and yellow squash slices, along with 3 tablespoons of salad dressing:
- Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add chopped tomato and sliced mushrooms, and 2 more tablespoons Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing:
- Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Serve the ratatouille over salad greens or rice.
Change up your dinner routine with Kraft. Visit KraftRecipes.com for great recipes and meal ideas, featuring Kraft. Because food deserves delicious.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Kraft. The opinions and text are all mine.
