Late Summer Ratatouille

Although the signs of autumn are all around, apples, school buses, and the first few crunchy leaves on the ground, the recent hot weather has reminded me that summer is not quite over yet.  I'm glad for that because there are still a few more summer dishes I want to savor before the cold weather moves in...and living in Syracuse that may be tomorrow...I'll make sure my snow boots are out just in case.  Checking our garden lately has ended up in pleasant surprises finding yellow squash and zucchini that I had previously written off as a failure.  I've also recently raided my parents' herb garden which have perennial herbs that I'm pretty sure are older than I am.  Adding in some of our tomato harvest and a few bell peppers shared by my husband's coworker from their garden overflow, I made a delicious late summer ratatouille tonight that made me a little bit sad to see the season go.  For this ratatouille, I'd like to note that I forgot to add in eggplant, but I wish I had so I'll add that to the ingredients list.  Also, I added in cannellini beans which is bit untraditional, but added a nice flavor and made the dish a little more hearty which would be great if you're planning on serving it as a main course.  Here's what I did:

Late Summer Ratatouille

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 medium yellow squash, large diced
1 medium zucchini, large diced
1 medium eggplant, large diced
1 medium bell pepper
1 large tomato, diced
1 small yellow onion, cut in half and finely sliced
1 can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
A few grinds of fresh black pepper

Prepare all of the diced vegetables ahead of time to make life easier.  Heat olive oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute garlic and onions for about 3 minutes, stirring often.  Add in squash, zucchini, eggplant and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes or until they start to become tender.  Add in tomatoes and beans followed by oregano, basil and pepper. Cook for another 2-3 minutes then lower heat and cover.  Allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes before serving.