I was looking for a new recipe to try using the last of my homegrown zucchini, and I found this from one of my favorite food blogs, The Kitchn. It is actually a recipe for a cake salé, the French term for a savory cake, using kalamata olives, grated zucchini, and tangy goat cheese. Many French households have their favorite variation which is often served at picnics, potlucks, and parties, where it is usually served as an appetizer with a glass of wine or Champagne. Continue reading
My zucchini plants are finally slowing down, and I think I’ve harvested the few remaining ones, so this will most likely be my last zucchini post for a while. I never thought I’d cook as much zucchini as I have in the last couple of months and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed them. This tart is no exception. While it’s great for breakfast, this savoury tart is also great for a light supper, with a salad. Of course, omitting the bacon and using low-fat milk instead of whole milk and heavy cream will reduce the calories and make for a healthier meal.
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Having a vegetable garden has been such a joy to me! I know I’ve said it a few times before, but it’s worth repeating. The weekly harvest of tomatoes, zucchinis, peppers, string beans, and radishes has really inspired me to cook in a way I’ve never done before. Take the zucchini, for example. It is actually one of the few vegetables I don’t dislike, but I usually only ate it breaded and fried, with gobs of ranch dressing. The very fact that, in the last week, I’ve made zucchini muffins, zucchini chips (ok, this is not a surprise to anyone who knows my penchant for fried stuff dipped in fat), and now, zucchini fritters, is a testament to the power of home grown vegetables and organic gardening.
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Knowing that I was going to be cooking zucchini a lot this week, I bookmarked this recipe from fellow blogger, Miranda, of Cupcakes and Cardigans. These zucchini chips are simple and easy to prepare. They are healthy, too, since they are baked instead of fried. Just don’t serve them with a side of ranch dressing (like I did!).
I didn’t have any breadcrumbs so I used some herbed croutons that I coarsely processed in the food processor, which turned out wonderfully. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly as Miranda had shared in her blog. Yummy!
Partly to combat my aversion to many vegetables, I started growing zucchini, string beans, carrots, beets, and radishes, in the hopes that I might learn to like them. Well, the thing with actually being successful in growing my own vegetables is that at some point, I do have to harvest, cook, and eat them. Today, I would like to share with you my (suprisingly) enjoyable experience cooking the zucchini from last week’s harvest. I found this recipe for zucchini bread at Smitten Kitchen. The recipe looked easy to make and garnered many raves reviews from Deb’s readers. Since I only had one zucchini at the moment, I opted to cut the recipe in half to make a dozen muffins.
Yesterday’s beautiful harvest from my new vegetable garden:
4 radishes (3 oz.)
1 small bell pepper (3 oz.)
1 zucchini (8 oz.)
tomatoes (4.5 oz.)
I love it when things work out!
Last weekend, Chris went camping and I was home alone. I was too lazy to go to the grocery store, so I decided that I would make do all weekend with whatever food was already in the house. So for dinner that Friday, I had bacon, eggs and rice. I love breakfast for dinner. I sat in front of the television all night, watching the two Sex and the City movies. FUN!!! Not so fun was what happened on Saturday morning. I turned on my computer and after a couple of seconds, the flashing folder with a question mark appeared. Hhhhmm! I’m home alone and no internet. Bummer!!! I’m still too lazy to go to the store so I’m determined to eat whatever is in the fridge or pantry. I moped around for a bit and then went outside to check on my garden. Lo and behold…overnight, the little zucchini plants have produced a whole bunch of blossoms.
Chris & I devoted most of the last week of August working on our new garden. Chris tilled and leveled the soil and removed some tree roots left by two huge trees in preparation for the placement of four new raised beds he built. I had it fairly easy; I was in charge of selecting, buying and planting all the vegetables and flowers. I included flowers around the vegetables to add splashes of color amidst all of the green foliage. I also transplanted all the herbs that were scattered around in different pots to a single raised herb bed. Now most of my herbs – French tarragon, Greek oregano, Italian parsley, rosemary, sage, lemon thyme, and garlic chives are together. I also have basil but I read that it is the perfect companion to tomatoes so I planted them together in a separate pot. The basil is supposed to keep insects away and even enhance the flavor of the tomatoes.
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