Love at first bite

It's been a busy week with more baking than cooking. My first real bread sales this week (14 loaves) plus preparing for a garage sale left without a lot of cooking time. I did, however, find the time to use up some of the gorgeous tomatoes and zucchini from my garden!! This was one of the best new recipes I have tried!

For the Zucchini and Tomato Gratin, you will need:

    * 2 tablespoons olive oil

    * 4 zucchini, sliced

    * 1 large clove garlic, crushed

    * 4 ounces thinly sliced mozzarella cheese

    * 4 large tomatoes, peeled and sliced

    * 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

    * 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

    * salt and freshly ground black pepper

I made a half portion of this recipe- but could have eaten lots more!!

I sliced my zucchini into rounds and browned on both sides. I didn't use much oil and I added my garlic after I flipped the zucchini so it wouldn't burn. I cooked mine for about 6 minutes, total.

I sliced two yellow tomatoes from my garden.

And then layered the zucchini, tomatoes and mozzarella into an 8x8 baking dish.

Top with fresh grated parmesan cheese, fresh basil, salt and pepper.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. NOTE- It is very important to turn your oven on in order for this to cook. It took me 30 minutes to realize I hadn't!

I ate the whole pan for dinner- and then realized the full recipe was only 2 servings, so I didn't feel so bad :) 

The author of this recipe does recommend using salt to draw some moisture from the zucchini before cooking. I didn't do that, but will next time as I did have a lot of water in the bottom of my baking dish. Delicious- just the same :)

How to love a Killer Zucchini!

What to do when you have the world's largest zucchini? Experiment!

The first thing I did was cut it into three large hunks so it would be easier to handle. I grated it...but only the outside edges because the center was full of gigantic seeds! I ended up with 6 cups of shredded zucchini!

I threw all this into my salad spinner, because it was so wet! I then set out to create the ultimate zucchini cake! Here is my recipe for Crispy Baked Zucchini Cakes :)

Chop 4 green onions into small rings.

Grate one cup of Sharp Cheddar Cheese...the sharper the better, in my opinion :)

Throw 2 cups of the zucchini in a bowl with the onions and cheese. Add two raw eggs, grate in 2 cloves of garlic, with 2 TBS of flour and 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes. Then, finely crush 30 Saltine Crackers (I use my hands for this) and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. The mixture will still be slightly wet.

 Drop onto a lined baking sheet...use parchment, non-stick foil or a silpat.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 24 minutes...flipping after 15 minutes.

I ate mine two ways...the first time with a spicy mexican sour cream dip. Tasty :)

The second day, I reheated in a skillet and served with a little tomato sauce...even better!

Robyn's CRAZY love for chocolate :)

Last week, my mom brought me two homegrown zucchini from my Dad's Christmas Tree Farm. I've made Zucchini Grinders a lot lately, so I decided to make something sweet. I knew my husband wouldn't eat plain old zucchini bread...but with chocolate, he might actually enjoy it!

I followed a recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Bread. It called for eggs, unsweetened chocolate, chocolate chips, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, salt and vegetable oil. I had everything I needed on hand!

Start by grating your zucchini. You could also do this in the food processor. DO NOT drain the excess moisture from the zucchini.

I used two heaping cups of shredded zucchini, which was about 1 1/2 medium sized zucchini. Bag any leftovers for stir fry or freeze in a Ziploc for use in another recipe.

Melt two squares of chocolate in a microwaveable glass bowl for about 1 minute, or until melted and smooth.

Add in everything but the flour and zucchini and stir well to combine.

Add in flour and chocolate chips (I used mini chips) and blend well.

Portion into loaf pans...I used 5 mini pans and still had enough left over to make 8 mini muffins. It took about 20 minutes for the mini muffins to cook and about 40 minutes for the mini loaves....at 350 degrees.

This is what happens if you try to remove the bread from the pan before it has cooled :(  And I forgot to take a picture of the finished product!!! Robyn ate 5 mini muffins plus half a loaf for breakfast yesterday! She calls it..."My yummy chocolate cake". Just don't tell her it has vegetables in it :)

Learning to love a great meatless meal!

Holy cow...talk about a delicious, meatless meal! I haven't been a huge zucchini fan...and my husband definitely isn't, but we both loved Fabulous Zucchini Grinders served with Parmesan Roasted Corn on the Cob.

The zucchini, corn and garlic all came from my local Farmer's Market. I started my zucchini by cooking a few cloves of garlic in the oil first.


Then I added my zucchini and cooked until it started to brown along the edges.


For the corn, you need mayo and parmesan cheese mixed with salt, pepper and chili powder.


First I brushed on the mayo...


And then I put on a thick coat of the parmesan cheese and spices. I wrapped it in foil and threw in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.



I used a delicious Arrabiata sauce from Trader Joe's. A little spicy, but not too bad. Added awesome flavor to the sandwich.


I chose to place the mozzarella on the bread so the sauce and zucchini mixture wouldn't make it soggy. I cannot eat soggy bread...yuck!


I topped with the zucchini mixture and little more mozzarella and then broiled open faced.


The finished corn!


And the gorgeous grinder!


A beautiful vegetarian summer meal. Even my meat loving/zucchini hating hubby LOVED these!

I love fresh veggies from the Farmer's Market!

I had an ear and half of corn leftover in the fridge and had recently purchased a zucchini and fresh onion at the farmer's market...so I made Zucchini and Corn Topped with Cheese! It sounded easy enough...I just cut the recipe down a bit for what I had on hand.

First, I shredded my Monterey Jack and Cheddar Cheese. I only used about 1/2 cup of cheese total.

I cut the corn off the cobs and threw in a skillet with my sliced onion, zucchini and about 1 TBS of olive oil. I cooked for about 3 minutes, added half a can of diced tomatoes, garlic salt and black pepper.

I wanted to make it and forget it, so I threw this mixture into 8x8 baking dish.

I topped with the cheese and threw in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes while I grilled our Pork Burgers.

Looks like a lot of cheese, I can't imagine using as much as the recipe called for!

The end result, very tasty! An excellent way to use up some great summer produce!
Next time I make it, I think I'll use fresh tomatoes instead :)