Inspired by a friendly conversation about Ratatouille–not the 2007 Disney movie as you know it, but a spring vegetable dish originating from Nice in Provence, France–I decided to try an amazing twist on the meal. Before I get into that, I thought it might be interesting to share a little about ratatouille.

From what I could gather, ratatouille was known in France since the 18th century to be a peasant’s dish. Originally called ratatouille niçoise, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, red peppers, onions, garlic and various herbs come together as a stewed vegetable dish.

The varieties I have seen are aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, but some would argue that that should not be so (you might want to click here to see that interpretation). I could understand the sentiment considering its history, but honestly, who said you can’t turn what was meant to be ugly into something beautiful. It is creativity at its best.

Photo Credit: PrettyZesty.com

That said, I chose to go with the aesthetically pleasing variety, a version that uses ripe plantains, and a red pepper base sauce. It is called Plantaintouille. Plantaintouille is a brilliant combination of flavors by Funke Koleosho for the palates that can appreciate West African delicacies and Caribbean fruit varieties. Funke removes the tomatoes from vegetable combination and instead includes ripe plantains and mushrooms. Beautiful isn’t it?

Photo Credit: Funke Koleosho’s

I started with her red pepper sauce recipe, which she mentions is used as a base for many West African dishes. The consistency and texture are smooth and with a nice balance in sweet and herbal flavors. Since I planned to use this sauce in a dish for not only myself and my husband, but also my toddler, I left out the scotch bonnet pepper.

However, I could imagine that it would have given my sauce the kick it needed. Unfortunately, many dishes have to be toned down in my household.

I proceeded to the ratatouille recipe. The journey to this concoction was an interesting read and the recipe easy to follow. Funke didn’t miss a beat and my final interpretation of her recipe looked something like this:

Okay so my vegetables are not as precisely cut (time for new knives) nor did they stand in the perfect position, but the red pepper sauce over this healthy mix of vegetables came together to give a savory taste from the garlic ingredient, but a more dulcet taste. Packed with the flavors of sweet red peppers, onions, thyme, garlic, fresh basil, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and plantain, my entire family loved it (yes, including the toddler). I plan to revisit this recipe regularly. I can honestly say that there was nothing that I did not like about the dish.

Here are just some nutrients this dish has to offer: fiber, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin K and Vitamin B6 just to name a few.