Tag: zucchini
Sausage with Zucchini
I would save this recipe for when one has had a crazy busy day but one still wants to serve a healthy, home cooked meal to ones family. This hardly takes any time- of course the key is to have the ingredients in the fridge and the pantry- that being said- any kind of vegetable or meat can be substituted for the zucchini and the sausage.
I like combining the two especially because of the way they look cut into perfect rounds. I sauteed up the sausage and added the onion and garlic. Some tomatoes, thyme and chicken broth later, I had a delicious dish. I simply served it with whole wheat couscous- which take all of five minutes and voila- I had a delicious meal…
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Ribbon Salad with Zucchini and Carrots
I loved making this salad. It is a great way of introducing different vegetables without cooking them. I took a vegetable peeler and made lovely ribbons with carrots and zucchini.
Speaking of vegetable peelers- it is very important to have a good one. I would highly recommend a Messermeister peeler. I got one a couple of years ago and absolutely love it. It makes peeling a cinch.
Making lovely ribbons was very easy with my great peeler. I combined feta cheese with the carrots and zucchinis. I made a delicious dressing cumin seeds, orange and lemon juices.
The salad was delicious with the chicken on the side- healthy and yummy…
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Zucchini Pesto with Thyme
This is a great sauce to make in the spring/summer. I love making different kinds of pestos to use with pastas, on top of fish or any meat, or even as a sauce for pizza. In fact I have made one in the past which I used in numerous dishes.
This one has fresh thyme paired with pistachios. It is a delicious sauce to simply mix with pasta. I served it with brown rice pasta with some simple chicken on the side. The great thing about this pesto is that kids will eat it.. they have no idea what is in there..
As my daughter was finishing her last bite, I asked her to guess the main ingredient in the pesto.. she had no idea and she was very surprised when I revealed it was zucchini…
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Zucchini and Squash Saute
This is a great summer side dish. Perfect with the burgers or any other grilled protein. I come up with these concoctions after I have gone crazy at the farmers market.
In this case, I purchased a lot of gorgeous looking zucchini and yellow squash. After thinking about it for a while, I came up with this quick and delicious dish.
I wanted to use very few ingredients and not lose the fresh squash taste. I sliced an onion and grated some ginger- somehow I wasn’t in the mood for garlic. I wanted the taste to be clean and simple and so that is all I did. I sauteed everything lightly and finished the dish off with some lemon juice- it tends to wake up all the flavors in a dish.
This concoction will be perfect with pasta as well. Add some al dente penne and you have a complete meal. You could add some fresh herbs to make it even yummier- either way, you can’t go wrong with this simple dish…
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Healthy Indian Style Hamburgers with Caramelized Onions and Zucchini served with Sweet Potato Fries
Once in a while I come up with a fabulous meal- it is tasty, healthy and very good looking. This is one of them. One of my favorite things to eat is a good hamburger- especially at our local pub. Since watching Food Inc, I have been off hamburgers especially at restaurants.
So, I decided to make turkey burgers but with a twist. I love ground turkey for a lot of things but when I have a regular turkey burger I always compare it to a beef burger and it just doesn’t stand up to it’s competitor. To avoid the comparison I decided to use my seekh kebab mix. It is extremely flavorful loaded with aromatics- perfect for a juicy burger. Now, what about the toppings? I didn’t want to use mayo since it is loaded with calories. I had cilantro chutney in the fridge that I normally serve with seekh kebabs- perfect. I also thought of the delicious tomato chutney from Trader Joes- that would pair up really well with the cilantro chutney. I needed to incorporate vegetables in this meal and so I decided to caramelize onions and saute up some zucchini and use them as toppings for the healthy burgers. Of course, I bought the soft whole-wheat hamburger buns from Trader Joes and while I was there, I also picked up sweet potatoes. They are super healthy and I wanted to incorporate them into the meal as well- I cut them up into wedges and made oven fries- they were delicious- especially paired with garlic powder and smoked paprika. The sweetness in this orange vegetable was wonderful with the savory garlic powder and smoky paprika.
Overall it was a fabulous meal- I did an article about this healthy, delicious meal on the New York Times, The Local.
Try the healthy Indian style hamburgers with the veggies and sweet potatoes next time you want to eat a hamburger.
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Halibut with Zucchini and Spinach Hash
This is a very healthy meal- perfect for the New year, more fish eating plan. I had halibut filets in my freezer which I decided to thaw and cook for dinner.
I had zucchini and spinach in the fridge and was not sure what to do with them. I am trying to cut back on the starch so I decided to do just a few potatoes on the side- to satisfy my starchy part of the appetite.
I diced the zucchini and sauteed it on a high heat. Once the pieces were golden brown, I added the spinach. The garlic and salt made the hash really tasty.
This is such a simple meal- didn’t take very long and it was very satisfying. I broiled the halibut simply with salt, pepper and olive oil- thats it- and it was delicious. Any fish can be used for this meal- use your favorite one or which ever one is on sale that day.
I gave my daughter and her friend the fish and zucchini hash. They ate it- well, they promised me they would earlier that evening when they cajoled me into having dinner together. That is also when I told them what I was serving for dinner- and they agreed very quickly… Well, once I placed the dinner in front of them- the look on their faces was priceless. Sia’s friend proceeded to tell me how she doesn’t like spinach. I looked at her very nicely and informed her how she promised me she will eat whatever I give her as long as she could join us for dinner.
They both ate everything, quietly.. I couldn’t help laughing (to myself). It is so nice have such a good friend and so sweet to see how the two girls wanted to spend time together regardless of what they had to eat to do so. It is all about good friends and good food…
- 10 oz bag of baby spinach
- 2 small zucchini, chopped in small pieces
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
In a non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the zucchini pieces. Saute on high heat till golden brown- about 5-6 minutes. Add salt, garlic and baby spinach. Saute on high till the spinach wilts. Taste for seasonings. Serve with the fish.
- 3-4 fillets Alaskan halibut (4-5 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Drizzle the oil with salt and pepper all over the fish pieces. Broil in the oven for 3-4 minutes on each side or till the fish is done.
- 3-4 potatoes, sliced into ¼ inch
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Add the olive oil, salt and pepper to the potato slices and broil till golden brown and soft- about 15 minutes.
Zucchini Pesto Pizzas with Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Okay, so this is a delicious concoction. While we were in Umbria at a very small yet great restaurant- we were served a variety bruschetta. One of them was green and tasted like heaven. We asked about it and found out it was made out of freshly picked zucchini. It was processed simply with extra virgin olive oil and salt.
So, that is what I did. I bought some lovely looking zucchini from the farmer’s market. This pesto is so simple yet delicious. I made it and wasn’t sure what to do with it. My daughter had been complaining about me not making pizza at home. That is what gave me the idea to use the pesto for the pizza.
As usual I bought pizza dough from our local pizzeria and decided to make individual ones. I had leftover chicken which I decided to use for the topping. I spread the pesto on the rolled out dough and topped it with fresh mozzarella cheese and chicken pieces.
The pizzas were delicious! My neighbors were outside and I decided to give them a taste. Even the kids loved it! I told the parents that the pesto was made out of zucchini and that they should keep the main ingredient to themselves! All in all it was a great experiment. Try it, I bet your kids will love it too…
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