Baked Zucchini Fries

Lately guys, I've been pinning. Do you guys pin? Pinterest has been such a great resource for gatherings ideas for all different areas of my life-- decor, fashion, and even cooking. I came across this image a while back and I knew it definitely needed to be put on the To-Cook list. So I pinned and eventually got around to making it. The photo I pinned took me to Our Best Bites's version of Baked Zucchini Fries, and I noticed that her recipe was an adaptation of one from Aggie's Kitchen. I feel like I'm playing six degrees of the food blogs, ha. Anyhow, I looked over both versions and went with something sort of in between. I served this alongside some grilled Italian sausage. We had some sweets to eat on hand, so I kept dinner short and to the point that night. These turned out really deliciously. Josh enjoyed them too, and I'm glad to have another way to prepare one of our favorite veggies.

Baked Zucchini Fries
Adapted from Aggie's Kitchen and Our Best Bites; Serves 2

1 medium-to-large zucchini
1 egg
1/4 cup plain panko breading
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried garlic powder

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside.
• Trim the ends from your zucchini. Halve it crosswise, then halve each piece lengthwise. Again, halve each piece lengthwise, so that you have several "planks" of zucchini. Then slice your zucchini planks into sticks lengthwise.
• Whisk your egg in a shallow bowl or deep plate. Mix the panko, Parmesan, oregano and garlic powder in another shallow bowl or plate.
• Working with several zucchini sticks at a time, coat them completely in the egg mixture and then coat them in the breading. Place on your prepared baking sheet and continue until all the fries are dipped and breaded.
• Bake zucchini fries for 10-12 minutes. Flip each fry over, and continue baking for another 10 minutes. Serve.

My notes: If the directions for slicing the zucchini seem confusing, jump over to Aggie's Kitchen or Our Best Bite through the links above. They both have excellent tutorial photos for preparing the recipe. Also, this is a halved version of the recipe, since there's just the two of us. I think next time I might try the plain breadcrumbs to see what the difference is.

Ratatouille

A Sprouts market recently opened nearby and I am loving their lower produce prices. I get their advert in the mail each Tuesday, which gives me plenty of time to incorporate some of their cheaper produce in my menu for the next week. Recently they had eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and bell peppers on sale. Hot diggity! I knew just what I wanted to make with that veggie combo-- ratatouille. It'd been years since I made ratatouille, usually because one or another ingredient always seems too pricey to me. (I'm cheap, if you haven't gotten that from this post yet, ha.) I boiled up a little leftover penne I had in the pantry, just enough for one plate for Josh, and topped it with the vegetable stew. I ate mine plain, and we both had some toasted bread and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan on top. Such a tasty way to get some summer vegetables in your diet.

Ratatouille
Recipe from Martha Stewart; Serves 8

1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large eggplants (2 pounds), peeled in strips and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
4 to 5 medium zucchini (2 pounds), cut into 1-inch cubes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 yellow or red bell peppers, ribs and seeds removed, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

• In a Dutch oven (or other heavy 5-quart pot with a tight-fitting lid), heat oil over medium heat. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in eggplant and zucchini; season generously with salt and pepper.
• Add 3/4 cup water; cover, and simmer until vegetables are beginning to soften, stirring once, about 5 minutes. Stir in bell peppers; simmer, covered, until softened, 5 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes and thyme; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover; simmer, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat. If serving immediately, stir in basil. (If freezing, leave out basil.)

My notes: I halved this recipe since it was just the two of us, and that gave us each a dinner and lunch of leftovers. I used yellow squash for half the zucchini too.

Portobello and Zucchini Tacos

As I've mentioned before, I've been clearing out some long time residents of my to-cook list in an attempt to find more non-meat meals to work into our dinner rotation. This was one more of those recipes that I kept skipping over. I think my main reason in passing it by was probably my lack of Portobello experience. But when they were on sale at Central Market recently I decided to finally give this recipe a try. This recipe was pretty good. It wasn't fantastic, but I think Josh and I were both comparing these to the also recently tried Black Eyed Pea Tacos which we loved. I'd consider trying this recipe again, maybe with some alterations. It was by no means bad, just not as great as the other taco recipes I've made. But it has gotten me over any Portobello nerves I had!

Portobello and Zucchini Tacos
Recipe from Everyday Foodl Serves 4














5 medium portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 medium zucchini, cut into 2-by-1/2-inch sticks
1 medium red onion, halved and sliced 1/4-inch thick
12 (4 1/2-inch) corn tortillas
6 ounces (1 cup) Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 cup fresh salsa

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss mushrooms with 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1/4 cup water; season with salt and pepper. On another rimmed baking sheet, toss zucchini and onion with remaining teaspoon oregano and tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper.
• Place both sheets in oven. Roast, tossing occasionally, until vegetables are browned and fork-tender, 25 to 30 minutes (zucchini may cook faster than mushrooms).
• Meanwhile, in a small skillet over medium-high heat, warm tortillas according to package instructions (they should be lightly browned but still soft). Wrap loosely in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.
• To serve, fill each tortilla with mushrooms, vegetable mixture, shredded cheese, and salsa.

My notes: I halved this recipe to serve just the two of us, but we still had a bit of leftover filling. I also used Pepper Jack cheese, cause I almost always have it in the refrigerator. I found I needed to cook the zucchini longer than the mushrooms, but I may have cut them thicker than I should have. Overall good, I would definitely recommend trying them. They just weren't the top taco filling for us.

Zucchini Links

I don't know about you, but it's still zucchini season in these parts. And zucchini just happens to be one of my most favorite vegetables to cook with. I noticed that over the past month or so that some of the most visited recipes on this blog have been zucchini recipes, so I thought I would do a little list of links for some of my favorite zucchini recipes.

Zucchini Quesadillas- I love quesadillas, filled with warm cheesy goodness. These are my favorite take on quesadillas, especially with whole wheat tortillas which lend a bit of a nutty flavor to them. I like to serve these with cilantro lime rice or spicy black beans.

Penne with Zucchini & Feta- One of my favorite pasta dishes, the combination of the bright lemon juice and salty feta really punch up the pasta and zucchini combo.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Couscous- An easy 5 ingredient recipe with a budget friendly protein choice.

Bolognese Pie- This is one of Josh's all-time favorite dinners. It uses extra bolognese sauce which I usually just pop in the freezer to make the pie at a later date, which makes it a pretty quick and easy dinner.

Zucchini Cupcakes- I made changes to the original recipe which resulted in more of a muffin-like treat, but if you topped it with the recommended cream cheese icing I'm sure things would swing right back into the cupcake column.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Couscous

Well, like I said posts are going to be a bit rare for awhile. Josh is busier and busier with each passing week, making a lot of dinner effort hard to muster when he won't even be eating it several nights a week. The grocery budget is getting tighter for us too, just like it is for so many other households. Just doesn't allow for as much freedom as I once had in planning the weekly menu and shopping list. This is a recipe that I actually made quite awhile back. I didn't think the picture turned out all that appetizingly, but I decided to go ahead and share it with you guys. Chicken thighs can be a very cost effective protein choice, so a good option for meat eaters these days. And with only 5 ingredients required, several of which might be staples in your kitchen, it could be a recipe that keeps your weekly grocery spending down.

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Zucchini and Couscous
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












8 chicken thighs
2 zucchini (about 1 pound total), halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise
1 cup couscous
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with rack in upper third. Season chicken with salt and pepper; place, skin side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes.
• Remove sheet from oven, and turn chicken, skin side up. Scatter zucchini around chicken, and season with salt and pepper; toss with pan juices. Return sheet to oven, and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, 7 to 10 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan; season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, and stir in couscous. Cover, and let stand until all the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork. Stir in parsley, vinegar, roasted zucchini, and 2 tablespoons pan juices; season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken with zucchini and couscous.

My notes: My chicken stuck a little bit to the pan, so maybe a light rubbing with olive oil could help with that. Other than that this was a good, easy recipe that I'd probably make again.

Zucchini Quesadillas

Yeah, couldn't come up with a more clever title for this entry. Not that my other titles are all that clever either, ha. Anyway, this has been a hectic weekend, involving very little cooking outside of some pigs-in-blankets for Josh's birthday breakfast, and some bacon and eggs yesterday morning. I rarely cook breakfast, but that's all that I've made the past couple days. And Josh and I will be leaving for vacation in a few days. I didn't have anything new to post so I went looking for a recipe that I hadn't written about yet and remembered these Zucchini Quesadillas. This is another one of those first recipes, one of the earliest recipes I tried when we decided to eat a bit healthier. Because of that I don't have a good pic of it, so I borrowed one from Martha here.

Zucchini Quesadillas
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4















4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
Salt
4 cloves garlic , minced
2 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 cup frozen corn kernels (4 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
2 cups grated pepper jack cheese

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add onion and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute more.
• Add zucchini and frozen corn kernels; cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is soft and corn is tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro, if using.
• Brush one side of all tortillas with remaining tablespoon oil; lay 2 tortillas, oiled side down, on a baking sheet. Place half of the filling on each, and sprinkle with half the cheese. Place remaining 2 tortillas on top, oiled side up; press down gently with a spatula to seal.
• Bake until cheese has melted and tortillas are golden brown, turning once, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool slightly. To serve, slice each quesadilla into wedges.

My notes: I've never been able to turn these quesadillas without creating a big mess. The last time I made them I didn't even bother trying and they still came out great. And while this recipe is supposed to serve 4, Josh and I are piggies and eat a whole quesadilla each. Mmmm.

Muffin or Cupcake? You Decide.

Last week I made these cupcakes (or is it muffins?) to serve with coffee on Friday while we had our friends Steve, Meri, and Cory over for a game of Scrabble. They are each a bit of a health nut, so I thought these would be the perfect sweets for the afternoon. The recipe is from the May 2007 issue of Everyday Food, and is one of the reader submitted recipes. I made a change or two, which I'll go over in my notes below. The changes made it seem a little more muffin-like than cupcake, but whatever you want to call it, they were delicious.

Ian's Sweet Zucchini Cupcakes
Recipe from Everyday Food & Ian Young; Makes 12












1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
1 zucchini (10 oz.), coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in nuts.
• In another bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, and vanilla; add to flour mixture, and mix just until combined (do not overmix).
• Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.
• Coll in tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes; turn cupcakes out, right side up, and cool completely.

My notes: The magazine includes a recipe for cream cheese frosting, but we had them plain. I also substituted whole white wheat flour for half of the all-purpose. I think the whole wheat is probably what made it a little more muffin like, but it could have been the lack of frosting too. Either way I didn't miss the frosting and I thought they tasted delicious. I also used pecan bits, since I happened to have a bag in the pantry, instead of buying more nuts just for the recipe. I'm definitely gonna pull this recipe out again when my father-in-law has a plethora of zucchini ready to leave his garden.

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili

I made this chili, found in the October 2007 issue of Everyday Food, about a month ago. I thought I would give it a whirl as it seemed much quicker than my regular veggie chili recipe. And while it was quicker, it wasn't quite as delicious. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it just didn't hit the mark for me. It's sort of in between my usual veg chili and the black bean & corn stew I make. I might make it again sometime when looking for a fast veggie meal. No pic, cause really these things rarely photograph well for me. And the recipe wasn't put up on Martha's site, so I couldn't steal their picture either, ha.

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 zucchini (about 1 pound total) halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
2 carrots thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cans (19 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can 28 oz. crushed tomatoes
1 package frozen corn, thawed

• In a 5 quart Dutch Oven or heavy pot heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes.
• Add zucchini, carrots, chili powder, and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are crisp-tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes, corn, and 1 cup water. Simmer until slightly thickened and carrots are soft, 8 to 10 minutes more.

My notes: I used 2 15 oz. cans of black beans because I don't know that I've ever seen 19 oz. cans. In fact, as I was typing that I was not sure that I even noticed it said 19 oz. when I made the recipe. I wonder if it's a typo. Or perhaps I'm not looking closely enough at the grocery store and these 19 oz. cans have been right under my nose. Anyway, like I said, this recipe was good, not great, and I might make it again but it's not destined to be in heavy rotation. Wanted to share it anyhow though, since it's not available on their website. Hopefully I'll get a chance to make my favorite veggie chili soon so I can share it with you.

Dinner Rerun

Another reason there haven't been as many posts is that I've been doing a lot of repeat recipes. Monday night I made one of my more common repeat recipes, Penne with Zucchini and Feta. It's such an easy dinner to make, coming together really quickly with minimal prep work. Definitely a Monday kind of meal. I originally got the recipe from poco-cocoa, which has unfortunately been laid to rest. I wish I had had the time to print off all her recipes before that happened. Oh well. This is a dish that she got from Cooking Light, but with her adjustments. I don't have a picture for two reasons- It's one of those meals that really doesn't photograph that well, and I was so hungry I didn't even think about taking a picture. I just wanted to dive right in! Obviously it's not peak zucchini time right now, but it's one of my favorite veggies to work with so as long as I can find decent ones in the store I'm going to keep cooking with them.

Penne with Zucchini & Feta
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light; Serves 4 (although we ate it all Monday night, ha)

8 ounces uncooked penne
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise an sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oregano, zucchini, and garlic; saute 3 minutes. Stir in broth, rind, juice, and pepper. Add drained pasta and cheese; toss well.

Fresh Ingredients

This week Josh brought home some goodies from the Garden Fairy, a.k.a. his dad. So, I changed up my weekly menu a little bit to make good use of some of our fresh-from-the-garden veggies. I had been thinking about doing the Zucchini & Yellow Squash Gratin that I made last month, but then at some point during the day I decided to change it up and go out on a limb. The squashes I got from John are really big. So, I thought I would sub them for Eggplant in my Baked Eggplant Parmesan. I sliced the zucchini and squash into rounds, and breaded and baked them according to the recipe. I baked them for 15 minutes, then flipped and baked for 15 minutes more. I layered them in the baking dish in alternating fashion so you would get both zucchini and squash in a serving. While the whole dish bubbled and baked in the oven I boiled up some penne to serve with it. This was really pretty good. It wasn't drastically different from the eggplant version, but a little more colorful and overall a really good use for some of the great produce we got from the Pop-In-Law.

Gratin and bare it....

So, wouldn't you know that not taking a pic would finally bite me in the tush. I was planning on posting this earlier today, but the recipe wasn't up on Martha's site, so I couldn't relay it to you while at work. And since there's no recipe, there's also no picture. And since I didn't take one, you'll just have to take my word that it is a colorful dish. Monday night's dinner was a Zucchini and Yellow Squash Gratin, which we had with a nice salad and a little bit of leftover pork. This was a good dish, and a fairly quick and easy recipe, also. I think this recipe would be great for a spring or summer get-together too- easy to make, creamy, and rich without being heavy. And did I mention it's colorful. The beautiful green and yellow discs create a very pretty base for the cream, Parmesan, and panko.

Zucchini and Yellow Squash Gratin
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4

2 tablespoons butter
2 medium zucchini (appx. 7 oz. ea.), sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick
2 medium yellow squash (appx. 7 oz. ea.), sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup panko
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat; add zucchini, yellow squash, shallots, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini and squash are crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
• Add cream, and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; stir in 1/2 cup panko and 1/4 cup Parmesan.
• Spoon mixture into a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining panko and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Bake until top is golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

My notes: Things got a little sticky once I added the panko and Parmesan. This is the first time I've cooked with panko, a Japanese breadcrumb made by cooking leavened bread dough electromagnetically. I guess it's the leavened aspect that made it smell yeasty, almost like beer to me. It supposed to be lighter than regular breadcrumbs, and this dish wasn't heavy at all to me, despite the heavy cream. I guess it worked. Also, I'm going to try and remember to post the nutritional info for recipes if I have it, as I've noticed that they don't list it anymore on the MS website. Luckily they still have an index in the back of the Everyday Food issues. If they do away with that, I'd have to give Martha a piece of my mind!

Per serving: 328 calories; 20.3 grams fat; 12.3 grams sat. fat; 10.5 grams protein; 27.7 grams carbohydrates; 3.1 grams fiber

Zucchini Lasagna

Monday night I made a Zucchini Lasagna from one of my issues of Everyday Food. I served it with a salad, which I topped with the vinaigrette from this weekend's episode of Real Simple. The vinaigrette was pretty good, although I will probably use less olive oil next time I make it. Was the lasagna good? Yes. Photogenic? Absolutely not. The pic below is from the Martha Stewart website.

Zucchini Lasagna
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4
Olive oil for baking dish
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1 15 ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 medium zucchini (8 ounces each), halved lengthwise then sliced thinly crosswise
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
6 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 ounces (1/2 cup) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil 8-inch square baking dish; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese and ricotta; season with salt and pepper. In another medium bowl, combine zucchini, garlic, and oregano; season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.
• Spread 1/3 zucchini mixture in prepared baking dish; top with two lasagna noodles, then 1/3 ricotta mixture. Repeat twice with remaining zucchini mixture, noodles, and ricotta mixture, finishing with the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
• Cover baking dish with aluminum foil; bake until bubbly and noodles are tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove foil; bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

My notes: This recipe was pretty good and very easy. Josh gladly ate seconds, and I happily ate leftovers for lunch yesterday. If you were serving this with more than just a salad you could easily feed more than the 4 it claims to serve. I split it into 6 well-portioned servings and with my large salad didn't feel like I'd been short-changed in the dinner department. All the zucchinis at the store were very small, so I went by weight instead of quantity, gathering 4 zucchinis that totaled 16 ounces. It seemed like maybe I was still a bit skimpy on zucchini, but I definitely could have cut my slices thinner, which probably would have helped. Anyway, assembly of this dish is pretty quick, and baking time isn't too bad either. We both felt like perhaps it was missing something. I could have used more salt & pepper in seasoning the cheese mixture, and I think it could have used more garlic. Josh felt that the Parmesan cheese he added helped, so I might add all of these things next time I make it. You could also add a tomato sauce for a change-up that would be delicious.