When buying eggplant, bigger isn't better. You want to look for smooth, firm small to medium sized. Throughout the recipe, add oil as needed to sauté to your taste.
Prepare a 2.5 quart size bowl filled half way with water and 2 tbs of white vinegar.
Peel and slice eggplant and place in water solution. Leave in approximately 10 minutes while slicing other vegetables.
Slice onions and put in pan to sauté until translucent and begin to golden.
Pour into dutch oven.
Slice peppers and put into pan to sauté until fragrant and tender.
Pour in dutch oven.
Drain eggplants and layer in a colander sprinkling lightly with sea salt in between the layers.
Cover with a plate and add weight to push out moister.(approximately 20 minutes)
Meanwhile, slice squash, chop tomatoes and finely chop garlic.
Once the eggplant has released the liquid, with a paper towel wipe away the salt and dab up any remaining moister.
Add eggplants to pan to sauté with a Tbs of olive oil.
Once golden, added to dutch oven.
Add sliced squash (chayote and zucchini) to sauté.
Once squash begin to tender and golden, add to dutch oven.
Mix tomatoes with fresh basil.
Add to dutch oven with garlic, herbs and stir. Add bay leaves.
Cover and cook in oven for one hour. It will be fragrant in 30 minutes, and smells fantastic after an hour. If you prefer a softer, but even more flavorful dish, transfer to a container to allow flavors to marinate in refrigerator to serve next day.
