RECIPE: Stuffed Zucchini

It's been a hectic day, but I still wanted to prepare a nice meal for us. I was a bit ahead of the game because I prepped a pork tenderloin yesterday afternoon and let it marinate all night and all day today. I'll add that recipe shortly, but I wanted to add this one before I forget what I did, since I didn't write it down!
STUFFED ZUCCHINI
INGREDIENTS:
2 medium sized Zucchini
2 large White Mushrooms
1/4 jar of your favorite marinara sauce
grated Parmesan Cheese
Italian Seasoning (I used Wildtree Italian Herb Blend)
Sea Salt
Pepper

 ... And after thought ... I added mushrooms!

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line a baking dish with foil.
3. Wash zucchini and cut them in half lengthwise.

4. Using a melon baller, scoop out the insides of the zucchini, reserving the scooped out goodness.

5. In a food processor, pulse the reserved zucchini pieces a few times until you have chunks. Repeat with the mushrooms.

6. In a medium sized bowl, add zucchini bits, mushrooms, sea salt, pepper, italian seasonings, 1 tablespoon parmesan, and red sauce. Stir well.
7. Place zucchini "boats" in the foil lined pan and scoop mixture into them, using all the mixture.

8. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes.

9. Remove from oven, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and return to oven for 5 more minutes.

10. Remove from oven. Plate. Serve. Enjoy!

RECIPE: Herbed Parmesan Crisps

There are times when nothing but some crunchy, salty, crispy snack will do. I had one of those cravings the other day. I remembered making parmesan "chips" several months ago, so I decided to experiment ... again. I'm pretty sure this will be a repeat performance snack over and over again in our household ... I hope you will agree!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup Fresh grated (not shredded) Parmesan Cheese
your favorite herbs (pepper, dill, italian seasonings, greek ... You choose!)
Olive Oil spray
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray a light coat of olive oil on a cookie sheet. If you have a Silpat, use it. They work great for this!
3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese on the pan, spreading it fairly thin. Repeat until you don't have any more room on your pan - Be sure to leave at least 1 inch between the crisps in all directions. (I also made some about the size of a half-dollar for snacking. They were wonderful, too!)
4. Lightly sprinkle the parmesan with your favorite seasonings. I ised a Greek seasoning, Italian seasoning, and Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute. No need to use any salt as the parmesan will be plenty salty without any extra.

5. Bake on the center rack for 3 - 5 minutes. Be sure to watch them and pull the out when they are light golden brown. They will continue to pop and sizzle for a short time after you remove them from the oven.

 (The little crumbly bits are great as seasoning on salads, so don't throw them away!)

6. Repeat process until you have as many as you need/want. Trust me ... They will go fast!

They are wonderful served with salads or spicy dishes!

RECIPE: Zucchini filled with Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Herbs

To go along with the Moroccan Marinated Chicken, I decided to stick with something rather Mediterranean. I love zucchinis, but Conrad's never been a big fan of them. I figured if I disguised them under some of his favorite foods (grape tomatoes and cheese ...) He might be able to choke them down. Little did I know that he'give them not just one, but TWO thumbs up! SCORE!! 

ZUCCHINI WITH TOMATOES, MOZZARELLA, AND HERBS

INGREDIENTS:

1 large Zucchini

Olive Oil

Grape Tomatoes

1/2 cup grated Mozzarella Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Italian Herb Blend

Sea Salt

Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Wash zucchini and cut in half length-wise. 

3. Cut a trough in the middle of each half, removing the seeds. Lightly drizzle (brush or spray) olive oil on tops so the don't dry out. 

4. Cut grape tomatoes in half and place in the troughs. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. 

5. Place in oven-safe baking dish and roast for 30 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese over each half, then season.

7. Let rest for a couple of minutes, then return to the oven for 10 more minutes or until mozzarella is melted and bubbly.

8. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and serve!

RECIPE: Roasted Vegetables - Broccoli

I had an "Ah-ha" moment yesterday afternoon. I had two huge crowns of broccoli and needed to prepare at least one of them for dinner last night. I'm rather tired of steaming them and I had seen several recipes for roasting broccoli, so I decided to give it a try. I'm VERY glad I did! We'll be eating roasted broccoli a lot more often, plus I will be trying LOTS more roasted vegetables now that I know it's so simple and so yummy!!

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Let me preface this recipe by telling you about a very cool gadget I bought the other day. It's a MISTO Olive Oil Sprayer. It's a spray can that you use the lid to pump the contents so it actually sprays! All you do is fill the container 1/2 way with olive oil, pump the lid a few times, and spray! I LOVE it!

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Here's my version of Roasted Broccoli - Plain and Simple
(You'll notice there's okra and a red bell pepper in the photo, too. More on that later.)
INGREDIENTS:
1 large crown fresh broccoli
olive oil
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
grated parmesan cheese (not pictured as this was an afterthought)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash broccoli, but it must be thoroughly dry before you cook it, so it's best to wash it well in advance and let it dry. Cut broccoli into large bite-sized pieces.
3. Put about a tablespoon of olive oil in a deep dish baking stone or whatever kind of dish you'd use for roasting.

 4. Place cut broccoli into pan and spray olive oil evenly on the broccoli. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Toss and repeat.

5. Bake in center of the oven for 15 minutes, then stir broccoli to expose bottom sides.
6. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, if desired. (We do!)
7. Continue roasting for another 10 minutes. Some of the broccoli will be golden brown. Most of what you see in this photo is the browned parmesan cheese.

**NOTE*** I wanted to try this with some okra, too. It worked very well! We still had some Mediterranean Eggplant Stuffing left, so I roasted a red bell pepper, too, with the intention of putting the stuffing in at the 15 minute mark. I also stuffed some large mushrooms. We preferred the mushrooms over the red peppers as the taste of the peppers over-powered the stuffing, in our opinion. Keep in mind I am not a pepper person.