Zucchini Fritter

Summer is coming upon us which means many gardeners out there will be overloaded with zucchinis. This is a delicious recipe to use up some of those zucchini.


3 cups grated zucchini (squeeze dry it with a paper towel)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon basil
1 tsp minced garlic
salt to taste
olive oil


1. In a medium bowl, combine the zucchini, eggs, onion, flour, mozzarella cheese,cayenne pepper, basil, garlic, and salt. Stir well enough to distribute ingredients evenly.

2. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drop zucchini mixture by heaping spoonfuls, press down on it a little to make a little cake, and cook for a few minutes on each side until golden.

*Great served with a little marinara sauce or sour cream.
**Can be served on a bun or roll as a sandwich/slider.

Quinoa and Black Beans

One of my new favorite ingredients: Quinoa. Seriously, where have you been all my life? Quinoa is one of those healthy ingredients that might scare a lot of people. If it is so healthy, how can it possibly be any good? Let me tell you, it is awesome. You could use it instead of rice in a lot of recipes. Let me tell you, it is a lot more palatable than brown rice. It is becoming more and more available. In fact, quinoa is probably better for you than brown rice. It is a complete protein and a good source of fiber among other things. You can pick it up for a good price at Trader Joes or Winco. Who knows, you may be lucky enough to find it in your local grocery store. This recipe is a great recipe to try it out. Trust me, it is delicious!


1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.

2. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with chicken broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

3. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

***Serve with a small dollop of sour cream for added deliciousness.

Roasted Beets 'n' Sweets

I've got a new recipe that I'm digging. I stumbled across it when I realized that three beets don't feed five people. Coincidentally I had 10lbs of sweet potatoes to use and thought this recipe might turn out okay. Let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. It was delicious! People are always saying they don't like beets. #1, most of you have never even tried fresh beets #2, beets are extremely mild (we're talking as mild as corn). Try this recipe, you might discover the beauty of beets!


6 medium beets, peeled and cut into chunks
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 medium sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
1 large sweet onion, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a bowl, toss the beets with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to coat. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.
3. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and sugar in a large resealable plastic bag. Place the sweet potatoes and onion in the bag. Seal bag, and shake to coat vegetables with the oil mixture.
4. Bake beets 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Mix sweet potato mixture with the beets on the baking sheet. Continue baking 25-45 minutes (depends on how big you cut your chunks really), stirring after 20 minutes, until all vegetables are tender.

Stuffed Zucchinis

When summer rolls around I always hear people complaining about what they should do with all those zucchinis. These stuffed zucchinis are an easy way to turn those green things into something spectacular.

3 small zucchini, cut in half, lengthwise
¾ cup small croutons
6 T mushrooms, drained, chopped
1 T melted butter
6 T grated cheese


1. Parboil zucchini 5 minutes. Cool.

2. Combine croutons, mushrooms, butter. Remove center portion of zucchini; add to crouton mixture, stir to mix. Fill the zucchini with the mushroom mixture. Top with cheese.

3. Broil until lightly browned.

Greek Salad

I don't have a picture for this salad because I was just too hungry to stop and take one! This salad just screams summer. Light, seasonal, delicious. It is super quick to make too.

2 cucumbers, diced-ish
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 small red onion, diced
1 can whole olives
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup feta cheese (I used tomato basil seasoned feta)
1/4 c olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, toss.

Sauteed Chard with Parmesan Cheese

So you may hear "chard" and throw up a little in your mouth or immediately make a "yuck" face. Think again. Chard doesn't have to be bitter or nasty. It can be turned into a flavorful, colorful side dish. This recipe is actually pretty tasty, especially for a green vegetable. Give it a try, you may have a whole new attitude towards chard.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil (or use 4 T olive oil and omit butter to cut calories)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tsp lemon juice, or to taste
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Melt butter and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and onion, and cook for about a minute.

2. Add the chard stems and the chicken broth. Simmer until the stems begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the chard leaves, and cook until wilted. Finally, stir in lemon juice and Parmesan cheese; season to taste with salt if needed.

Ful Medames Hummus

It's not the prettiest thing ever, but it sure is tasty. I used traditional ingredients for Ful Medames ( a traditional Egyptian dish featuring fava beans) to make a Ful Medames Hummus. Fava beans have a nutty flavor and are delicious even just eating plain.

About 2 lbs fava beans
1/3 cup Tahini Sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
several T olive oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread out whole fava beans on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Roast for about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool enough to handle.

2. Remove beans from fava pods. They should come out of the pods quite easily.

3. Blend fava beans, tahini sauce, garlic, lemon juice and cayenne pepper in a food processor (or a blender). Add olive oil slowly until the mixture gets the desired dip like texture.

Serve with pita bread.

Stuffed Zucchini

This is an awesome way to serve zucchini. It is simple and delicious.


3 small zucchini, cut in half, lengthwise
¾ cup small croutons
6 T mushrooms, drained, chopped
1 T melted butter (optional)
6 T grated cheese


1. Parboil zucchini 5 minutes. Cool.

2. Combine croutons, mushrooms, butter. Remove center portion of zucchini; add to crouton mixture, stir to mix. Fill the zucchini with the mushroom mixture. Top with cheese.

3. Broil until lightly browned.

Dang Hippie Soup

As a tribute to my brother Spencer, I am calling this recipe Dang Hippie Soup. Apparently anything that is healthy is hippie food to him.

It has finally gotten cold around here so I made a hearty, brothy soup last night and loved it. It really hit the spot. It is really healthy for you: lots of vegetables, low fat, low calories. Can it get any better?

4 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium size sweet potato, diced
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp basil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp mustard
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1 medium sized tomato, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed


1. Saute onion, celery, sweet potato, and garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat. 5-7 minutes.
2. Add in paprika, basil, salt, cinnamon, cayenne, mustard, bay leaf, chicken broth, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat. Simmer on low heat 15 minutes
4. Add black beans and tomato. Simmer until sweet potatoes are tender (about 5 more minutes).

Leek and Potato Soup

I love leek and potato soup. Not only is it a rich, creamy, delicious souP, it also uses leeks which makes it sound sort of fancy. It is super easy too. Makes great leftovers.


Ingredients:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
2 leeks, sliced (you eat the stem, not the leafs)
1 quart chicken broth
2 T cornstarch
4 cups diced potatoes (I like yukon gold for this soup)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Cook leeks in butter and 1 tsp salt about 10 minutes. Stir frequently.
3. Stir cornstarch into leek mixture. Add broth and mix it all together.
4. Add potatoes and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and add cream and 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
6. Simmer 30 minutes.

Spicy Thai Pasta Salad

I love this dish. People either love it or hate it. I like to bring it to Potlucks because it is unusual. People always seem scared to try it because of its uniqueness. Once they do 90% of them love it. To love it, you have to love spicy thai type food. If you don't like thai, you'll hate it.


2 pkg (12 oz) bowtie pasta

2-3 tsp crushed red pepper

6 TBSP corn oil

3/4 c sesame oil

9 TBSP honey

7 1/2 TBSP soy sauce

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c chopped cilantro

1 1/4 c honey roasted peanuts

3/4 c chopped green onions


Cook pasta and drain well. In sauce pan stir red pepper and oils over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add honey, soy sauce and salt. Mix well and pour over pasta, coating evenly. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.* When ready to serve, add chopped cilantro, peanuts and green onions.


*You can refrigerate it for 4 hours, but it gets better the longer it sits so it's really much better if you let it sit overnight.