Audrey's Ratatouille

This food is the combination of everything perfect. Tons of vegetables, chicken that's tender on the inside, crispy on the outside, served over couscous. I haven't yet learned to make it so it is consistently FABULOUS, but it is consistently pretty yummy. Audrey's is consistently fabulous. And I'm not bitter. Today.





Ingredients

4-5 Chicken Thighs (one per person), skin removed by hand (if you buy the skinless, it has almost no fat on it and you need the fat to make it mo' tasty and delicious) I buy mine at Costco.
1 zucchini sliced in half lengthwise, cut into small half circles. Make them the same width.
3 carrots peeled and sliced on the diagonal.
1 onion diced small.
2 bell peppers diced large.
1 ripe eggplant (the ripeness is important, if you cut it open and it is green close to the skin, cut of the green parts. They taste like cucumber and will ruin the flavor of the dish)
Olive OilBalsamic VinegarCoarse Salt and Pepper
Garlic Pepper
Minced Garlic
32 oz can whole tomatoes
Regular or whole wheat couscous prepared according to package directions, except I like to make mine in chicken broth instead of water.


Instructions

1. After removing the skin from the chicken thighs, grind salt and garlic pepper, flavoring both sides of the chicken.


2. Warm 1 T Olive oil in a pan on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add chicken. Allow chicken to brown about 5 minutes on each side. It does not need to cook through, just get a nice crisp on both sides.


3. After chopping all your vegetables, toss them with olive oil, coarse salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar and about 1 T of minced garlic. I do not have measurements on the oil, salt and pepper and vinegar because I totally eyeball it. Maybe this explains my lack of consistent deliciousness . . .



4. Place the vegetables in a glass 9x13 pan and lay the chicken on top.


5. Drain your canned tomatoes and pour them on top of the chicken. Add some salt to the tomatoes.



6. Bake for 2 hours at 300 degrees, checking vegetables for tenderness. If, like me, you prepare your dish in the morning and refrigerate it during the day, you will need to add additional cooking time for the pan and the food to warm up. About a half hour.

7. Prepare couscous.

8. Enjoy your health conscious triumph!