9 posts tagged “zucchini”
I saw this recipe for zucchini rice gratin a couple weeks ago and it sounded so good. How can you go wrong with roasted vegetables, cheese, and rice? Answer: you can't.
I'm always looking for new sides and if they do double-duty (starch and veg), even better. I stayed pretty true to the recipe, but cut the amount of oil. I felt like 6.5 Tbsp. was just unecessary so I basically ended up using less than 1/3 of the oil and it was still great and tasty. I modified a few other ingredients slightly, and the process a little, too, to make for a little less pots/cleanup.
The eggs make this really creamy and also set really well. If I weren't so excited to eat it, I might have actually been able to remove something that resembled more of a slice than a pile of rice and vegetables. :) Tom and I both loved this. The roasted vegetables are so flavorful and the rice is full of creamy, cheesy goodness.
This claims to serve 4-6 but I would definitely lean toward 4. Six would be pushing it. I made this in a round 2 qt. casserole but as you can see I should have used a shallower pan. I think a deep dish pie plate would be a perfect size for something like this. It's also a little time-consuming for a side, but in my opinion, it's worth it, especially since most of the time is inactive.
I served this with a simply seasoned pan-fried pork chop. Gourmet says you can eat this as a main course, and I would tend to agree. I did have the leftovers (and only the leftovers) for lunch the next day. But, if I were serving this as a vegetarian main, I'd probably increase both the amount of rice and maybe add some roasted eggplant.
Zucchini Rice Gratin
adapted from Gourmet
Serves 4 as a side
2 large zucchinis, sliced
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 onion, cut in half and then sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup uncooked rice
2/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 large eggs
1/2 cup pecorino romano, divided
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 450. In a large bowl, toss the sliced zucchini with 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place the slices on a baking sheet. Then, in the same bowl (why not?), toss the sliced tomatoes with 1 tsp. olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast the zucchini on the upper rack in the oven for about 20 minutes and the tomatoes on the lower rack for 10 minutes. Flip them once during roasting. Leave the oven on.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and some salt and cook over low heat for a couple minutes before adding the minced garlic. Cover and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes until the onions are soft and slightly caramelized.
Add the rice to the onion mixture and stir a few times. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until the rice is cooked.
Beat your 2 eggs lightly (hey, why not use the same bowl as before?) and then add the rice. Be sure the rice has cooled slightly so you don't get scrambled eggs. Stir in 1/4 cup of the romano, 1.5 tsp. oil, and the thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place half the rice mixture in a shallow baking dish or pie pan. Place half of the roasted zucchini over the rice. Top with the remaining rice and then finish off with the remaning zuchini, the roasted tomatoes, and the remaining parmesan cheese. Bake until set and cheese has melted, about 20 minutes.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 248 / Fat: 13g / Saturated Fat: 4g / Carbs: 22g / Fiber: 2.8g / Protein: 11g
As I mentioned, there are so many great blogging events going on right now and sadly, I haven't had the chance to participate in as many as I would like. Thankfully, though, Barbara at Winos and Foodies extended the deadline for this year's Taste of Yellow, so I was able to sneak a submission in tonight before going out of town tomorrow. If you haven't already participated in LiveSTRONG Taste of Yellow 2008, definitely try to!
I picked up some yellow squash the other day, and sort of decided what I was going to do with it about 5 minutes before cooking it. The filling consists of ingredients I always have around, and that I love in combination with one another. Plus, I think it makes for something quite pretty!
Taste of Yellow is to show your support of LiveSTRONG Day 2008, which is May 13. Cancer. It's one of those things that I feel affects nearly everyone in some way, unfortunately. It hit me the hardest as a freshman in high school when my grandfather was diagnosed with colon cancer.
I lived with my grandparents from when I was 3 years old until I was 10 years old. They were obviously like a second set of parents to me. My yiayia (grandma) and pappou (grandpa) took me on their biannual vacations, gave me my first job as a "hostess" at their restaurant, and, well, made me talk to anyone who called because they couldn't speak good English :) Speaking of poor English, one of my earliest memories is of my pappou yelling at my preschool teacher. See, when I started preschool I was armed with a very small set of English words as I spoke Greek to my whole family. I was also armed with quite a temper and stubbornness (some things never change). One day, we were supposed to be napping in cots. I was not used to taking naps in the afternoon and I tried to let my teacher know that. The teacher, increasingly frustrated with me, eventually dragged my cot (and me) out to the hallway and made me sit there for the rest of the afternoon. When my pappou came to pick me up and saw me crying in the hallway, he was absolutely furious. You can imagine the the screaming in incredibly broken English that ensued.
I was alway close with both my grandparents, but my pappou and I shared a special bond. I was the typical spoiled only grandchild, but it was so much more than that. We always had a good time together, and he loved me more than anyone. I'd stay up waiting for him to come home from the restaurant and practically every night, like clockwork, he would eat a steak and drink some ouzo. So now you know where I get my adoration for both steak and ouzo :)
When my pappou was diagnosed with cancer, it was obviously a scary thing for me but more than anything, I assumed he would pull through it. My grandpa was tough. He was a big guy. He came from Greece on a boat and became successful in the States. He raised me in addition to raising three of his own children. Cancer? He could beat cancer! Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Watching someone you love so much get weaker, get thinner and just get sicker as the cancer spread is something I hope I never have to go through again. My pappou lost his battle with cancer in 1995. It was devastating. And, it's still devastating. I still think about him all of the time, and I often wish he were here to share so many things with me. On our wedding day, Tom and I wore the "stefana" (crowns prevalent during an Orthodox ceremony) that my yiayia and pappou wore on their wedding day in 1959. It was a way for him to be there with me on my special day, and I know that he is still "here" for me on other special days. Or maybe on a day that doesn't even seem that special...watching over me, wondering why I am eating chicken and drinking wine when I could be having a piece of steak with a shot of ouzo instead.
Mediterranean Squash Boats
2 yellow squash
a little olive oil
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp. pine nuts, toasted
1 large clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
drizzle of balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
fresh parsley or additional basil for topping (optional)
Preheat the oven to 375.
Wash and scrub the squash, and then cut lengthwise. Scoop out the "meat" of the squash, chop it, and put it in a bowl. To the bowl, add the sundried tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, garlic and salt and pepper to taste.
Brush the outside of the squash with a little olive oil (or spray with a Misto) and sprinkle the insides lightly with salt and pepper. Fill the zucchini with the mixture from the bowl. Drizzle each piece with a little balsamic vinegar. Top with the crumbled goat cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes or until zucchini is tender and cheese is warm.
After coming across a couple different recipes in Gourmet and on Ellie Krieger's show featuring baked shrimp, orzo and feta, I was thinking of ways to combine the recipes and make the dish. But, then I saw Peter's post for Greco Shrimp Linguini and I was tempted to make that (quite similar) dish, instead.
As you know, I cannot follow a recipe to save my life, so I adapted the recipe and the method a bit. I used basil in place of parsley, kalamata olives in place of throumpes and I also lightened the dish a little (but, you know me, I increased the amount of cheese...). This made for a delicious and quite healthy dish. Thanks, Peter!
Greco Linguini
Serves 2
4 oz. thin spaghetti or linguini (I used whole wheat)
1 Tbsp. extra virginn olive oil, divided
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
dried oregano
1 cloves garlic, whole
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 small to medium zucchini, sliced into half moons
a drizzle or two of balsamic vinegar
8-10 black olives (I used kalamata), pitted and chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
2-3 Tbsp. fresh chopped basil
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. On a baking pan, toss the tomatoes and one whole clove of garlic with 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, and dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes have burst slightly.
Meanwhile, cook your linguini in boiling salted water until al dente and prepare the rest of the dish. In a skillet, add the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil. When shimmering, add the zucchini and minced garlic and saute until the garlic is fragrant, about a minute. Add the shrimp and olives and cook until the zucchini becomes tender and the shrimp is about halfway done. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and tomatoes (and their juices, pitch the whole garlic clove) and toss to coat everything. Turn off the burner.
Add the hot linguini, basil and feta into the pan. Toss to coat everything and finish cooking the shrimp (the residual heat from the pan as well as the linguini will be enough to do this). Drizzle with additional olive oil, if desired, and season to taste.
Nutritional Info (without drizzling additional olive oil at the end): Calories: 468 / Fat: 16.3g / Carbs: 53.2 / Fiber: 9g / Protein: 27.2g
Nicole at For the Love of Food hosts this really great blogging event called Taste&Create. She pairs up bloggers and then they each make a recipe from the other's blog and...what else? Blog about it!
I was paired with Abby over at Eat the Right Stuff. This was great for many reasons, including the fact that I had never visited Abby's blog before and now I have a great new blog to add to my reader. As a bonus, Abby tends to eat pretty healthfully as I also (try to) do. Not that I picked an overly healthy recipe, because I didn't :)
I had a lot of fun poring over all of Abby's great recipes and while it was tough to pick just one, I landed on her courgette and lemon risotto. I definitely enjoyed this dish. I love the combination of lemon and basil so I knew I would like this. I would probably add more lemon next time around (the zest from the whole lemon, perhaps) as I tend to like things pretty lemony. I admit I don't use zucchini IN things terribly often and tend to have them as a veggie side, instead. It was nice to put them in something so hearty. In summary: a fresh, light take on a comfort classic!
Courgette and Lemon Risotto
serves 2
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, crushed/minced
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine (I used pinot grigio)
2 cups hot vegetable stock (I used chicken stock since that's what I had)
juice and zest of half a lemon
2-3 courgettes/zucchinis, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
handful of shredded basil
salt and pepper
Wrap the grated zucchini in a clean towel and squeeze out all the extra liquid. A lot will come out and that's important so don't skip this step!
Heat the oil and butter in a medium pan. Add the onion and cook until it has softened. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute. Stir in the rice and make sure it is coated with the butter/oil. "Toast" it for a bit. Increase the heat and add the wine, stirring while it reduces.
Add a ladle of the vegetable (or chicken) stock to the rice and stir continuously until the liquid has almost all been absorbed. Continue adding the stock by the ladle until the rice is cooked (risotto should still have a little bite to it, just like al dente pasta).
When the rice is done, add the zucchini, basil, lemon, lemon zest, parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Chicken strips and garden stuffed zucchini? Not exactly the first combination that comes to your mind. But, I have really been wanting to try Nikki's garden stuffed zucchini since she posted it and I was too lazy to make a starch and a protein, so I made something that has both. :)
The zucchini was, not at all to my surprise, delicious. I did make some minor modifications. I used a shallot since I had no red onions on hand and a bell pepper because I had no anaheim peppers. I also sauteed the veggies in olive oil instead of butter and I did pop the whole thing under the broiler at the end.
As for the chicken strips, I think I have made oven chicken strips 789340 ways, including almond-crusted, melba-toast crusted and panko crusted, to name a few. This time I just went the traditional bread crumb route.
I sprinkled the chicken with salt and pepper.
Dredged them in flour seasoned with a little cayenne, garlic powder, thyme and dry mustard.
Dipped them in beaten egg.
Dredged them in bread crumbs.
Sprayed a cookie sheet with some oil, added the chicken and sprayed them with a little oil, too. When they were almost cooked through, I popped them under the broiler for about a minute or two per side.
Often times when you are specifically cooking for two, you don't end up with leftover meals but you do end up with leftover ingredients. That's what happened to me today, so I decided to throw them all into one thing and call it a day.
This is part marinara, part cacciatore, part sausage and peppers. Completely healthy :) This is what went into the clean-out-yer-fridge chicken dish.
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 links chicken sausage (I used mushroom asiago), sliced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1/2 green pepper, diced
- 1/2 zucchini, diced
- 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
- a handful or two of baby spinach
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 can (a little less than a cup) diced tomatoes with their juice
- basil and oregano
- salt and pepper
- one cup hot cooked brown rice
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add chicken sausage slices and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon.
To the pan, add the diced onion and green pepper and cook for a minute or two. Stir in the mushrooms and zucchini, and a pinch of salt, and cook until tender.
Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
Stir in diced tomatoes, spinach, salt and pepper, basil and oregano to taste. Add chicken sausage back to pan and simmer on low to warm through and mesh flavors.
Serve over brown rice.
Go grocery shopping again.
Nutritional info per serving, including the rice (may be off by a calorie or two because I threw out the original packaging of the chicken sausage but by using the packaging of a different flavor of the sausage and my memory I think it's pretty accurate): Calories: 400 / Fat: 14g / Carbs: 45g / Dietary Fiber: 4.5g / Protein: 21g
Cara is currently hosting a five ingredient "Platinum Chef" challenge so I decided to take part in it. Lucky for me, more than one thing could be made to add up to the five ingredients, so long as you used 2 or more ingredients in the dish. Otherwise, I might have had a problem. Unfortunately, I tend to not like fruit flavors (save for citrus) outside of, say, dessert, and one of the ingredients was strawberries. The remaining ingredients were nuts, basil, zucchini and tomatoes.
I decided Tom and I were having breakfast for dinner: a veggie frittata and some strawberry nut muffins. I haven't made a frittata in my new apartment yet because the broiler leaves a lot to be desired. For one, I got used to the broiler at the top of the oven whereas this one is below. Secondly, my nonstick pan doesn't really fit very well into the broiler (in my head I could actually see the egg/zucchini/tomato mixture all over the floor as I tried to wedge it in there). So, I decided rather than doing stovetop to broiler, I would do oven to broiler and bake my frittata instead.
Now, I decided to make up a muffin recipe which, as you may guess, could very well have been a recipe for disaster (pun totally intended) seeing as I am certainly not much of a...err, platinum baker. But, I have typically had good luck with muffins so I decided to be adventurous. A while back I had seen a Cooking Light recipe for strawberry yogurt scones. I decided to tweak it a bit and make it into a muffin recipe. Oh, and add nuts, of course, to get that fifth ingredient of the challenge in there. The muffins tasted great. The only issue was the texture. Tom and I agreed it really was just that it was fresh strawberries. I know many people have had strawberry muffins and bread before, but we never had, so it was a little different to us. Nothing wrong with it, just a little softer inside than most muffins. I liked them, though, and think they base would also be good for freeze dried strawberries or dried fruits.
You should definitely take part in the challenge, which ends June 20. I'd love to see what everyone comes up with :)
Strawberry Nut Oat Muffins
1 cup oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. grated orange zest
2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
2 Tbsp. strawberry yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
1/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
Preheat oven to 425 and grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.
Sift together AP flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and soda and salt together in a bowl. Stir in oats.
In another bowl, whisk egg. Mix in sugar, then add vanilla, oil, yogurt, orange rind, egg and milk until just combined. Stir in chopped strawberries.
Mix strawberry mixture together with dry ingredients. Fold in pecans.
Spoon into prepared muffin cups and bake about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Per muffin: Calories: 177 / Fat: 6g / Carbs: 27g / Sugars: 9g / Protein: 4.8g
(making muffins without nuts will eliminate about 20 calories and 2g of fat)
Veggie and Gruyere Frittata
5 eggs
5 egg whites
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp (divided) Gruyere cheese
1 Tbsp fresh basil
3 Tbsp milk
salt and pepper
1/4 cup sliced zucchini
1/4 cup sliced grape tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
a pat of butter, or some cooking spray
If baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk eggs and egg whites together. Stir in 1/2 cup gruyere, basil, milk and salt and pepper. Set aside.
Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat with a pat of butter or some cooking spray.
Add zucchini and mushrooms with a pinch of salt and cook until tender. Add tomatoes and cook just for about 30 seconds or a minute.
If making from stovetop to broiler, pour eggs over vegetables in skillet and cook until eggs are almost set but still have some wiggle at the top. If making in the oven, add vegetables to egg mixture. Pour mixture into a greased pie pan and cook about 20 minutes or until almost completely set.
Add remaining 2 Tbsp of gruyere to top of frittata and place under broiler to finish cooking/brown for about 1-2 minutes.
Four servings; calories per serving: Calories: 188 / Fat: 12g / Saturated Fat: 5g / Carbs: 2.8g / Protein: 16.2g
I had to do a little Easter shopping after work today so I knew I wouldn't want to make a dinner that took a while when I got home. I remembered I had half of my pizza dough from TJ's frozen, so I decided to thaw it and make a stromboli.
I used half a package of TJ's whole wheat pizza dough, rolled it out and topped it with about 1/2 cup shredded lowfat mozzarella, 1/4 cup smoked gouda (which I always have on hand but for some reason never thought to use in a pizza until I read canarygirl's blog), a link of spicy chicken sausage that I browned in a little EVOO with a clove of garlic and fresh rosemary, and prosciutto. Rolled it into a log with the ends tucked in, brushed it with an egg wash and baked at 425 for about 20-25 minutes.
With the stromboli, I made some zucchini sticks. Basically, zucchini dipped in a beaten egg then in some breadcrumbs that I seasoned. Normally I would add parmesan cheese to the bread crumbs but I already had enough cheese in the stromboli. I then placed the sticks on a sprayed cookie sheet, sprayed the tops with a little more oil, and stuck them in the oven for the same time as the stromboli. Served both with a marinara dipping sauce.
The other day I was searching the Food Network sight and somehow managed to come across a recipe for goat cheese-stuffed zucchini pancakes with tomato sauce (I was actually looking for a chicken recipe :P). Since I had all the ingredients, I decided I would make it today, as it's meatless Friday.
I used Emeril's recipe, but with my own tomato sauce (which I added sauted mushrooms to). You do not need anywhere near 1/2 cup oil, and I actually used less (*gasp*) goat cheese than it called for. I sliced the full amount, but had some slices leftover after I stuffed the pancakes.
They were delicious and so easy, even for me who is absolutely TERRIBLE at pancake flipping.
