Sautéed Zucchini

Zucchini has turned into one of my favorite summer vegetables. It is quick and easy to make, and it pretty much complements any meal. Here's one of the ways I most frequently make zucchini.

Sautéed Zucchini

1. Uniformly slice zucchini - you want all the pieces to be the same thickness so that they will cook at the same time. This is easily achieved by using a mandoline (thanks, Mom!) or some very good knife skills.

2. Heat 2 Tbl olive oil in a large pan over low-medium heat. Use a pan larger than you think you need, since you do not want to overcrowd the pan. This will result in uneven cooking of the zucchini.

3. When the pan is hot, throw in the zucchini. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté zucchini for about 7-10 minutes, until they begin to soften and turn translucent.

4. Serve on its own as a side dish, or mix with chickpeas or beans as a salad, use it as a topping on pizza, or add it to vegetable pasta. 

This is my go-to way of preparing zucchini, but I've also made zucchini fries, lasagna with poblano peppers and zucchini, summer vegetable tart, and zucchini pizza. Next time there is zucchini, I want to try zucchini chips!

What are your favorite ways to prepare zucchini? Do you have any other ideas about what to do with zucchini?

Best Thing SHE Ever Made

The view from the side

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were watching TV and we flipped to "The Best Thing I Ever Made" on Food Network. The episode's theme was Family Dinners, so everything the chefs made were big dishes that can be served family style and are pretty comforting to eat. One of the chefs, Marcela Valladolid, host of "Mexican Made Easy", featured her Corn and Poblano Lasagna. It sounded sooooo delicious and relatively simple! Instead of a traditional Italian lasagna, hers is stuffed with poblano chiles and zucchini, and the sauce is a blended corn/cream mixture (which I probably could have eaten on its own as a soup). After we saw this episode, we couldn't stop talking about how much we wanted to make and eat this meal. As fate would have it, what did I find at the farmer's market that week?? POBLANO CHILES! We were destined to make this meal, and it was oh so yummy! The recipe calls for Oaxaca cheese, but she said you can substitute mozzarella, which is all we could find in our local grocery store.

And the view from the top - look at that melty cheese!

The lasagna was really easy and delicious and it will definitely be made again, but this post also comes with a cautionary tale:

Be careful when you slice spicy peppers! Only recently have I started to experiment with peppers, and so I never really knew much about peppers or their oils. A few weeks ago, we made jalapeño poppers, and later that night, I felt as though I had burnt my finger. I just assumed that I accidentally hit the side of the oven or pan while I was taking out the peppers, and although it really hurt, I just brushed it off as nothing. Doesn't every good cook burn themselves once in a while in the kitchen? A few hours after we had finished the lasagna, my hands were in excruciating pain - tingling and burning. At first I thought I might be dying; I had never felt this type of pain before in my life! I quickly typed in my symptoms into Google and I found out that, no, I was not dying, but my hands were burning from the capsaicin in the peppers. A quick search for remedies led me to pour rubbing alcohol over my hands and then coat with a thick lotion. Although the pain didn't go away completely, it was lessened enough so that I could fall asleep. Lesson learned. Next time - GLOVES!

Summer Veggie Tart

Considering fall is about to start, it only seemed appropriate to finally post this summer veggie tart...that was made almost a MONTH ago. Have I mentioned that I've been busy this summer? Anyway, this tart was made with 100% vegetables from the CSA - remember those six ears of corn? Well, I didn't eat them. Instead, I froze the kernels and then defrosted them so that they could be a part of this delicious meal. The tart was based on Smitten Kitchen's Burst Tomato Galette with Corn and Zucchini. I used frozen pastry crust, as a shortcut, since it takes a while to make fresh dough. While Deb @ Smitten Kitchen molded the dough into a circle, pleated the edges, and overlapped the filling, I just left the dough in a rectangle and folded up the corners to make a crust. I don't think my changes made much of a difference (although, fresh dough is always better than frozen), but it was just a bit easier and faster this way. I can't seem to remember if this was served with a salad, but if it wasn't it should be in the future! This was a healthy, quick, and easy dinner - it was light yet filling. Perfect for a summer evening.

Zucchini Pizza

Remember a couple of weeks ago there were zucchini in the CSA? Way back when, during Week 11? Things have been really busy, so this post is a bit overdue. Zucchini pizza was a quick and easy way to use up the rest of the zucchini. Just preheat the oven to 350 degrees, slice the zucchini in thin rounds, bake for 15 minutes. Top with sauce and cheese and bake until cheese is melty and gooey. Yum!

Appetizer Things

Have you ever made of one those dinners that's just a mix of everything you have left in the refrigerator/freezer? We had one of those types of meals this past week. It's always fun to figure out what to make with the random assortment of foods you find lying around. Here's our hodge podge dinner, featuring cauliflower and zucchini:

We had marinated chicken, buffalo cauliflower, and zucchini fries. The buffalo cauliflower was surprisingly delicious! We are big buffalo chicken fans, and I was a bit skeptical when it came to buffalo cauliflower. There was a flour/water/garlic powder batter that gave the cauliflower a really nice texture...and you can never go wrong with Frank's Red Hot Sauce. 

Zucchini fries...before the oven

Zucchini fries were another easy side to add to our random dinner. I didn't have buttermilk (not a staple in this kitchen) or eggs (expired a few days prior yet still sitting in my fridge...), so the zucchini were dipped in milk, then in breadcrumbs. Baked in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

These two random sides would make really good appetizers for a party! They are both very easy to make and are healthy alternatives to some of the more popular appetizers. I would definitely make these again the next time I have a party. Or the next time I crave junk food!

Adventures in Scaping

Below is a guest blog post from my friend/cousin Annie - she picked up our CSA share the week we were on vacation. She has an adorable 3-year old who is featured below!

My sous chef Carter was also a big helper. Just to recap we had cauliflower, garlic scapes, turnips and squash. 

Garlic scapes and Cauliflower

We pan seared the cauliflower in a few tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper until browned and then threw in the chopped up garlic scapes- including the bulb at the end for the last few minutes. The friendly farmer had told me they are good in anything stir fried that you want to taste like garlic- he had said to use the whole thing. The scapes have a mild garlic/onion flavor, similar to scallions but just more garlicky. They were good!

In the pan!

Then we sliced up the squash and turnips and tossed with olive, oil, salt and pepper and roasted in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Nothing too exciting but the roasted veggies tasted good.

Roasted zucchini

Carter tasted a garlic scape (nothing else) and said he liked it. Garlic scapes are 3 year-old approved!

Sous chef Carter, hard at work adding pepper!

Thanks for the post, Annie! Glad to hear Carter was able to help and enjoy some of the produce!