Zucchini Cakes!

I know I sound like a damn broken record.
I know this.
But, truly, this IS one of my favorite things to make and then immediately scarf down. If I were alone I might skip the formality of a fork and just use my hands for faster delivery.

I came across this recipe years ago when my CSA box was overflowing with zucchini week after week and I was running out of ideas on how to prepare it. The collective groan that came from the dinner table was becoming a bit discouraging.

This recipe has been adapted from Pastor Ryan, over on PWC.

Here is what you will need:

1 large zucchini, shredded
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup Italian herbed breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan Or Romano
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil

On a clean dish towel grate the zucchini

Once grated, twist the shredded zucchini up in the towel and squeeze out the excess water.

It should be a decent amount. Discard.

Transfer the zucchini from the towel into a large bowl and add garlic, cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper.

Take your rings off and get your hands in there mixing everything together well. Taking about a tablespoon amount of zucchini, form patties between your palms.

Add olive oil to a saute pan and heat to medium.

Drop in zucchini cakes and saute each side for 3 minutes

or until golden brown.

Top with a little grated parm

and serve with marinara sauce.

Even the pickiest eaters will try it.

But best of all, they'll love it!

Enjoy!

Pasta Salad with Tuna

This is one of my mom's recipes that always shows up at our family barbecues. I don't know why I love it so, but I do and I haven't had it in a while (Tuna + Chris = divorce). So when the craving for it hit on Sunday I threw together a batch. And, of course, that afternoon Chris is sticking his head in and out of the fridge rummaging for something to eat and he pulls out the pasta salad. I should have just let him have at it but having purposefully tricked him into eating shrimp once before I have made a solemn promise never to do it again. So when I hear the saran wrap being drawn back away from the bowl I sing out a small warning:

theeeeres tunaaaaa in iiiiiiit...

I'm pretty sure he cursed.

Hey, its not my fault he's so picky.

Anyway, I made a few changes to the recipe to make it a little more "healthy".

Here is what you will need:

2 cups dry pasta, cooked (I used piccolini farfalle)

1 can albacore chunk white tuna (in water)
3 heaping Tbsp. onion, minced
2 stalks celery, minced
1 Tbsp fresh chopped dill
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp light mayo
1 Tbsp fat free sour cream
4-5 whole green olives, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
a few slices of hard boiled egg to garnish-- optional.

So the rest is pretty self explanatory: Drain the tuna, I also rinse mine and drain again. Use a fork to shred the tuna in a large mixing bowl. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix together.

As you can see mine is sans egg. I like it with the hard boiled egg I was just saving my eggs for a savory crostata that turned into "The tomato and feta crostata fiasco." But more on that later...

Add a few healthy dashes of Texas Pete and sweet Georgia Brown, that's good!

Hope you like! Enjoy!

Rosemary Rolls

I love bread.

There, I said it. Mea culpa.

I know I'm not alone in this love affair.

If you have ever chosen a restaurant based on the bread they serve before the meal; this recipe is for you.

If you can and often do make a meal of of salad and breadsticks; this recipe is for you.

If you think the Atkins diet is one of the worst ideas in history; this recipe is for you.

If you just need a yummy roll to serve with dinner tonight; this recipe is for you.

Actually, I can't think of anyone this recipe isn't for.

Here's all you need:

Frozen dinner rolls (I use Rhodes brand)
Butter
Rosemary
Coarse sea salt





If you're one of those people that have a great bread recipe, feel free to use it. I'm lazy so I picked out a package of frozen rolls and they came out wonderful.

Place the frozen rolls in a well greased baking dish. Make sure they are not too close together so that they have enough room to rise. This is a little too much room, so I'm going to add one more roll.

Cover the dish with a clean dish towel place in a non drafty area of your kitchen and leave for 3 to 5 hours. Obviously, if you'd like to have these for dinner you need to plan ahead.

4 hours later, look! I pulled away the towel and they have risen! I guess that's a joke better delivered at Easter time.


Chop up some fresh Rosemary. I LOVE Rosemary, the aroma is magnificent and the taste... minty, pine-y & flowery goodness.



You know what comes next, right?

Of course you do.

Butta.

Melt some butter and add the fresh chopped Rosemary.

Baste the rolls with the butter and Rosemary.

Make sure you cover them well...

sprinkle with coarse sea salt

yep. This is gonna be SO good.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown (double check your package directions).

Sweet Georgia Brown!

Soft, warm and so flavorful right out of the oven. I'm going to try not to eat half the pan right now.

Enjoy these with pasta, chicken or your next holiday feast! I'm going to enjoy them all by themselves!

Mashed Cauliflower

Back when I was vigilant about monitoring my carb intake this side dish was a staple in my house. Mostly because its deceptively delicious but also because its good for me. Yes, me specifically. I firmly believe that the food we put into our bodies can heal as well as harm us. Now that doesn't always stop me from shoving a hostess cupcake in my mouth every now and again. But it does entice me to get creative with a family of vegetables I have a tendency to overlook. The Cabbage Family. I can easily say that broccoli was the only veggie from this family that I enjoyed eating, that is, until I got to know cauliflower. It really didn't take long for us to get acquainted and now I know how incomplete my life was without it. Not only is it perfect for crudites and scrumptious lightly steamed but by night it dons a cape and a snug fitting leotard and becomes a superfood with cancer fighting properties. Cauliflower contains two major weapons in its cancer fighting arsenal: Indole-3-Carbinol, or I3C, and the photonutrient sulforaphane. In research sulforaphane was found to reduce breast tumor growth by 40 percent by sweeping toxins, that would normally damage cells and turn cancerous, out of the system. I3C works as an anti-estrogen and since high levels of estrogen foster tumor growth lowering the estrogen count lowers the chances of tumor growth. The same is true for all vegetables in the Cruciferous family and with my family history, I need all the help I can get.
So for those of you who only like your broccoli covered in cheese and would prefer mashed potatoes to steamed vegetables I give you: Fauxtatoes. Even my dad likes these. THAT is saying something.



I made this small batch for Liam, he's a fan too.



Here is what you will need:



1 head fresh cauliflower or 1 bag frozen

2 Tablespoons 1/3 less fat cream cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

2 ingredients. Seriously, it doesn't get any easier than that. If you're not pleasantly surprised at how well this works, then there is no hope for you because you're worse than my husband.





I bought a bag of frozen because my store's produce section is shoddy at best and the cauliflower was already browning.

Drop the cauliflower into a pot with just a bit of water in the bottom. Bring water to a boil and allow florets to steam for 5 to ten minutes. The cauliflower should be tender enough for a fork to easily pierce but not too soft that its mushy, you don't want to steam all the nutrients out of it.

Drain the water and add the cream cheese

If you like lumpy mashed potatoes a hand masher will do just fine... I happen to prefer my mashed potatoes whipped like cream so I'm going to give mine a spin in the food processor.

I SWEAR, its not potato. But it is just as satisfying. Try it soon!

Sage Sausage and Apple Stuffing

If you don't already have an extraordinary Thanksgiving stuffing recipe look no further! Come to think of it, even if you do, Look no further! You might like to switch it up this year and give this little beauty a try. I don't have pictures for this post because I haven't made it since last year but trust me when I tell you that this stuffing will MAKE your Thanksgiving dinner. Your turkey can be as dry and cardboard, your mashed potatoes as appetizing as paste but with this on the table, no one will notice. And for years to come everyone will be singing your praises as the stuffing queen, or king.

I think I adapted this years ago from one of Paula Deen's recipes

Here is what you will need:


1/2 loaf of bread dried and cubed (I use s combo of whole wheat and sourdough)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan and topping
1 pound fresh sage sausage, casing removed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cooking apples, such as Rome, or Golden Delicious, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 to 2 ribs celery with leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Put the stuffing cubes in a large bowl and set aside. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook until it loses most of its pink color, but not so much that it's dry, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage and pan drippings to the stuffing cubes. Melt the remaining butter in the pan. Add the onion, apple, celery, and salt. Cook until the vegetables get soft, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and parsley and bring to a boil.
Pour the vegetable mixture over the stuffing cubes and toss until evenly moistened. Mix in the eggs. Loosely pack the dressing in the prepared pan and cook uncovered until the top forms a crust, about 40 minutes. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of turkey pan drippings or melted butter over the top. Cook until the top is crisp and golden, about 20 minutes more. Set immediately or warm.

Tip: Put the dressing in the oven during the last hour of cooking the turkey

I really can't wait for this. I'm actually making two batches. One for the table and one to be sure there are 'leftovers'.

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

This is the easiest side dish ever. EVER. Loads of flavor and sure to impress any dinner guest.
I'm just going to get right down to it.

Here is what you will need:

2lbs Klondike petite golden potatoes
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
Fresh Rosemary, about two sprigs
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375




If needed give your potatoes a scrub. These beauties just needed a quick rinse.

If you didn't plan your dinner ahead of time, par boiling the potatoes will give them a head start before they go into the oven. Drop them into a pot of room temperature water and bring to a slow boil for about ten minutes.

Butter and Rosemary were meant to be together.

Pull the rosemary from the stems and give it a rough chop.

In a small dish melt the butter

and add the rosemary

Coat the bottom of a baking dish with the olive oil.

Drain the potatoes and allow to cool enough to be handled. Cut potatoes in half and drop into the baking dish with the olive oil.
I'm scatter-brained so I did not get a picture of this step. Just imagine me fumbling with hot potatoes because I'm too impatient to allow them to cool before cutting them.

With a basting brush coat the potatoes with the butter and rosemary and sprinkle with salt. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.


Serve with steak, fish, chicken, pork or just eat them all by themselves. There is no wrong answer.

Butternut Squash Risotto

I know what you're thinking. ENOUGH with the squash already! I can't help it, they were on sale so I got two. And having never purchased butternut squash before I was not aware that two would yield enough squash to get me through the end the of calendar year. Cheer up! I only have half a squash left. That's one, maybe two more recipes. Then I'll be on to the next flavor of the week. I'm a fickle mistress.


This recipe is, in a word, delish.

Here is what you will need:


4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups peeled cubed butternut squash,
3 tablespoons butter, divided
3/4 cups finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

So take your butternut beauty and peel her. Even though I have a decent vegetable peeler I was having a hard time with the thick skin, if you experience the same difficulty try this tip: Drop your whole squash into a pot of simmering water for about 3 minutes. Just enough to soften the skin, then you can peel and dice your squash with ease.

Remove the seeds and pulp and dice the squash into uniform bite sized pieces.

In a medium saucepan, bring the vegetable broth to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low. Add the butternut squash to the simmering broth and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the butternut squash to a side dish. Turn the heat on the broth down to very low and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender but not brown, about 3 minutes

Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of the broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes total.

Gently stir in the butternut squash.

Sprinkle in 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Brace yourself now, this is where it gets good.

Add the Parmesan and the butter. Ever so gently, fold together.

Hmmm. Do you know what this photo is missing? CHIVE. I made the rookie mistake of going to the grocery store that NEVER has fresh herbs in stock so my risotto is sans chive. Yet mouthwatering just the same. Don't forget the chive, but if you do don't apologize- no one will know- It's that good.