This Vegan Ratatouille Bake is a delicious way to enjoy fresh vegetables. Add vegan parm to zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes for a healthy summer dish.
I love when recipes come with stories.
Food is so much more than just something we eat or something that tastes good. It's something that has a history. There can be beautiful memories associated with a certain recipe or food.
To me it's so wonderful to hear the meaning behind the food.
Don't we all have that one food that we ate at that one time with that one person?
I don't know about you, but I have hundreds of those. And they mean so much to me.
This Vegan Ratatouille Bake is one of those recipes. I developed it very recently, but it's the ingredients that bring me back to childhood.
My parents have a huge garden. Every summer we find ourselves with an overwhelming amount of vegetables. We often have half our fridge filled with eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes.
Most years we have more vegetables than we know what to do with. We give them away to family and friends. This year is no exception.
A few weeks ago, my mom asked me to find something to do with all of our vegetables (besides our usual favorites). So I did some searching and found a couple recipes that I wanted to emulate.
Of course, I put my own spin on my findings and created this gem. A Vegan Ratatouille Bake.
This bake is pretty hands off. Just chop up the veggies and make the vegan parm and then throw them in the oven. I found myself wondering why I wasn't doing anything while I was cooking this dish.
Turns out, it's just easy.
Let's dive in.
Step 1. Start by making the vegan parmesan. Add the cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and salt to a food processor.
Step 2. Pulse until the cashews are in small pieces, resembling parmesan. Don't over-process or else it will turn into nut butter!
Step 3. Chop the eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. I quartered the eggplant and zucchini and then sliced them into rounds. Then I halved the cherry tomatoes.
Step 4. Add the veggies to a large bowl. Reserve half of the chopped basil and half of the chopped parsley. Add the remaining basil and parsley, along with the garlic, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Toss to combine.
Step 5. Transfer the vegetables to a casserole dish. I used an 11" round dish -- that's the smallest size you'll want to use. I recommend something like this dish. Top the veggies with 1/3 cup of vegan parmesan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Step 6. At the 30 minute mark remove the aluminum foil. Carefully stir the vegetables. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, uncovered, until the top layer of vegetables is browned.
Step 7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining basil, parsley, and vegan parmesan. Enjoy!
Thank you God for fresh summer vegetables. Help us to eat them in abundance to nourish our bodies. Amen.
If you're looking for another great zucchini recipe, check out my Oil-Free Sauteed Zucchini or my Oil-Free Zucchini Chips.
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This Vegan Ratatouille Bake is a delicious way to enjoy fresh vegetables. Add vegan parm to zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes for a healthy summer dish.
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