Zucchini Pie

 

The Guardian has some lovely recipes. I haven't made this yet, but it sounded so good that I wanted to get it stored somewhere.

Μπατζίνα Batzina (Zucchini pie)

This is a delicious crustless savoury pie that originated in Thessaly, near central Greece. As it’s pastry free, it’s lovely and light. It is also very versatile: substitute the zucchini for everything from grated pumpkin or sweet potato to any cheese, or just use zucchini without the eggs and cheese. Enjoy it hot or cold, as a main or as part of a meze platter.

Serves 6

4 zucchinis, grated
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp Greek‑style yoghurt
3 eggs
2 spring onions, chopped
1 cup chopped mint 
1 cup chopped dill 
1 cup chopped flat‑leaf parsley 
 3/4 cup plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 cup Greek feta, crumbled
4 tsp extra‑virgin olive oil
1 cup breadcrumbs

Place the grated zucchini in a colander, cover with salt and set aside to drain for two hours. Once drained, use your hands to squeeze out any remaining juice.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine drained zucchini and all the remaining ingredients (except for the oil and breadcrumbs) in a bowl, stirring gently with a wooden spoon to create a thick batter. Season with salt and pepper.

Grease a 11 inch round cake tin with two teaspoons of olive oil and sprinkle two tablespoons of breadcrumbs over the base of the tin (this will help prevent sticking). Pour mixture into the tin and top with remaining breadcrumbs and olive oil. Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden.

Spicy California Shrimp Stack

 

This is a great little recipe from Skinny Taste, who always serves up delicious recipes. This is company worthy. It comes out looking like something you'd be served at a restaurant. A few tips from the cook:

Apparently, Trader Joe’s carries frozen brown rice, which is a great short-cut for busy weeknights and the texture is perfect. Using their rice, this came together in less than 15 minutes. If you make the rice yourself, use short grain sushi rice, the sticky texture is perfect for this.

• This would also be great with crab meat to make a more traditional California roll, or even raw sushi grade salmon or tuna.
• 
  
• If your shrimp is raw, you can poach them quickly in a pot of salted, boiling water, for 2-3 minutes, until they are just pink. Then, rinse them under cold water to stop them from cooking.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/3 cups cooked short-grain brown rice, from 1/2 cup uncooked
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 8 ounces cooked shrimp, peeled and tails removed
• 1 cup diced cucumber, about 1 small
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 cup mashed avocado, about 1 medium
• 4 teaspoons Furikake, such as Eden Shake or use sesame seeds
• 4 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, or gluten-free
• 4 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and oil. When rice is done, add rice vinegar and stir. Evenly spread rice on a sheet to cool.

Cut shrimp into one-inch cubes. In a small bowl combine cucumber and chives. In another small bowl combine mayonnaise and sriracha.

Using a one cup dry measure cup, layer 1/4 cup cucumber, 2 tablespoons avocado, then 1/4 of the shrimp and 1/3 cup of rice.

Carefully flip over measuring cup onto a plate, tapping the bottom if necessary. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, 1 tsp. soy sauce and 1 tsp. sriracha mayonnaise. Be prepared to dazzle.

Hummus

It seems that at all of our family gatherings hummus is a staple. It's so easy to make and so expensive to buy. This is hands down my favorite recipe for hummus for its ease and flavor.

3/4 cup tahini (Trader Joe's was recommended in one recipe as being a very good one.)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon
1 Tbsp. garlic (or 3 cloves, or more, if you like garlic.) I use squeezy garlic.
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

 Put everything in the food processor except for the chickpeas.

Puree for about 1 minute, until the mixture becomes light-textured and smooth. It should be pourable, not pasty. You may want to add up to another 1/4 cup of water while you're processing these ingredients, if it seems too thick.

Add chickpeas puree for about 3 minutes, until very smooth.

Tip: Tahini can be messy to measure. Let it come to room temperature first, and pre-coat the inside of your measuring cup with a drop of oil or a little cooking oil spray.

The hummus can be refrigerated for up to 1 week. It is best served at room temperature; if you’re in a hurry, microwave chilled hummus in 10-second intervals, stirring each time.

Broccoli and Cheese Stromboli

The cooking with my kid blog... I very rarely actually do these recipes with either of my kids but, regardless, I do find the simplicity of the recipes very appealing! Here was another of her simple but tasty treats. It's basically a pizza that is rolled into a log before you cook it. Interestingly, I enjoyed this more as a reheated dish than I did when it was straight out of the oven. Straight out of the oven the cheese is too melty and so it oozes out the side when you cut it up. If you let it cool completely first and then cut it up and microwave it, the cheese stays (more) in place and allows you to eat this like a sandwich. Max loved it... Stella was dubious but ate about 1/3-1/2 of what I served her. As with any pizza-like recipe you could easily change the "toppings" (or filings, in this case) but this is one of those great ways to sneak some green veggies in to whomever you are serving.

Ingredients:

• 1 package pre-made pizza dough (we used whole wheat)
• 2 cups broccoli florets (blanched and chopped)
• 1 cup good marinara sauce
• 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 1/2 cups part skim mozzarella
• Grated Parmesan for sprinkling
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
2. In a small bowl mix together ricotta, sauce and oregano. 
3. Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface into a rectangle. Spread sauce mixture evenly on dough leaving room on the sides for crimping. Top with broccoli and mozzarella. Sprinkle the top with some Parmesan. 
4. Starting at one end roll the dough up and crimp the edges to seal. Transfer to a greased cookie sheet. 
5. Crack egg into a small bowl, add water to egg and whisk to form egg wash. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash and poke a few holes to let steam out. 
6. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until crust is well cooked and golden brown. Be sure to let it cook until it’s good and crusty – otherwise the inside will be too doughy. Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing. 
7. Serve with extra marinara for dipping. Makes approximately 8 slices.

Recipe and photo courtesy of cookingwithmykid.com

Fried Pickles

INGREDIENTS

• canola oil
• 16 ounces sliced dill pickles
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise (or plain yogurt)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch

Coating

• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat 1” oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
2. Drain pickles reserving 3/4 cup juice.
3. Place pickles in between paper towels and press out extra juice.
4. In a medium bowl, combine pickle juice, yogurt, egg, flour, and cornstarch.
5. In a separate bowl, combine coating ingredients.
6. Place as many pickles as will comfortably fit in the bowl of batter. Toss.
7. Then place a couple at a time in coating.
8. Test one pickle in oil to see if it is hot enough. You will know it is at the right temperature if your pickle immediately starts to bubble around the edges.
9. Fry pickles in batches, not overcrowding, for 2-3 minutes and transfer to a paper towel line plate.

 Recipe and photo from No More To Go

Whole Wheat Pizza Puffs

 
Pizza puffs are genius! No surprise (since I got the recipe from cookingwithmykid.com) it is a great recipe for making with the kids. They vastly prefer the mini pepperoni version I make that doesn't use broccoli or olives but I generally make both. I have never once made a single batch of this recipe. They freeze amazingly well and are delicious. I prefer to eat them with ranch dressing but go great with whatever dipping sauce sounds good to you.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup lowfat or nonfat milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1/2 cup black olives (pitted)
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan.
2. Blanche the broccoli and chop small, set aside. (I generally cook the broccoli and then stick both them and the olives in a blender and hit pulse a few times... I like having fewer big chunks of anything).
3. Chop olives and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg.
5. Stir in the mozzarella, broccoli and olives and let stand for 10 mins.
6. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20-25 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, microwave the marinara sauce until warmed through, then serve with the pizza puffs.

Recipe and photo courtesy of cookingwithmykid.com

Creamy Parmesan Spinach Dip

Creamy Parmesan Spinach Dip

The trickiest part here is getting all the liquid out of the frozen spinach.  Maybe letting it sit in a sieve or a colander until the water has drained out would be a good idea.  It is a very tasty dip and, as you can see, very low in calories.  I might add tiny diced red pepper and/or chopped artichoke hearts next time.  Especially since I have both of those things in my refrigerator
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes  
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1/4 cup • Old Points: 2 pts • 76 calories


Ingredients:  

• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess liquid squeezed out
• 1/2 cup light sour cream (or plain yogurt)
• 5 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1/4 cup scallion, chopped
• fresh pepper to taste

Directions: 

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Can be made one day in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. Makes about 2 cups.

Bacon-Wrapped Lil' Smokies

Another one of the appetizers from the shower last weekend. Not surprisingly... amazing

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound sliced bacon, cut into thirds
• 1 (14 ounce) package beef cocktail wieners
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Refrigerate 2/3 of the bacon until needed. It is easier to wrap the wieners with cold bacon. Wrap each cocktail wiener with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle brown sugar generously over all.
3. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the sugar is bubbly. To serve, place the wieners in a slow cooker and keep on the low setting.

Beef and Asparagus Negimaki

Yesterday I hosted the first of three parties I have planned in three weeks time. This one was for someone who can't tolerate gluten, dairy, or eggs so I had to work a little harder than usual on the menu plan. These were delicious, made with gluten free soy sauce. It calls for beef tenderloin, but that shit is expensive so I just bought the thinnest sliced beef that I could find (I think it was bottom round). I went for the broiling option and I think they ended up cooking for 4-5 minutes. Given that I broiled, mine didn't have the fancy grill marks like the picture, but otherwise they came out looking really fancy. I served them with my favorite Kraft Lite Asian Toasted Sesame dressing. I will definitely make these again.

Ingredients

• Salt, for water
• 24 thin stalks asparagus, or 12 thick stalks sliced in half lengthwise
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 bunch scallions, greens only
• 1 1/2 pounds beef
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Ice water, for bath 

Directions

1.  Preheat a grill or grill pan until hot, or prepare oven broiler. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Cut off asparagus ends to within 3 1/2 inches from tips; reserve bottoms for another use. Place tips in boiling water; cook until bright green but still crunchy, about 1 minute. Prepare an ice-water bath. Drain asparagus; transfer to an ice-water bath to stop cooking. Drain asparagus again in a colander, and set aside.
2. Whisk together soy sauce and sugar until dissolved; set aside. Cut scallions into 3 1/2-inch lengths, julienned lengthwise; set aside.
3. Slice tenderloin into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Place one slice between two pieces of plastic; pound lightly to an even thickness. Remove plastic; trim into 2-by-5-inch rectangle. Repeat with remaining beef.
4. Dip a piece of beef in soy-sauce mixture, and place on a clean surface. Season with pepper. Place 1 piece of scallion and 2 asparagus tips across 1 end of beef, so vegetables extend over edges; roll. Set aside. Repeat with remaining beef and vegetables.
5. Grill or broil negimaki, brushing with sauce and turning, until slightly charred and medium rare, about 2 minutes. Serve. 

Recipe and photo from Martha Stewart

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

This cat also steals hamburgers.
Photo Credit: E.Evans

These are so good, even one of my cats had to see what the fuss was about. One time, I left some to cool in a partially covered container. When I went to put them away, it seemed as though one was missing. But I hadn't made an official count, so I didn't think any more of it. Two days later I found the missing biscuit under the dining room table. Don't worry, I didn't eat it ;) 

INGREDIENTS

•  4 Tbsp butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp dried parsley*
• 2 cups Bisquick OR
• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 2/3 Tbsp butter
• Blend dry ingredients, cut in butter with pastry blender
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 2/3 cup nonfat milk

 * The original recipe called for 2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley, but I find it difficult to chop it up finely enough to distribute evenly among the biscuits.

DIRECTIONS

1.    Preheat oven to 400. Spray baking sheet.

2.    Combine biscuit mix, cheddar cheese, 1 clove garlic. Stir in milk and mix.

3.    Form small balls (the mix will be somewhat crumbly) and place on baking sheet (makes ~12 biscuits).

4.    Bake for 10 minutes.

5.    At ~7 minute mark, melt butter, add 1 clove garlic, and sauté on low heat for ~1 min. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.*

6.    Drizzle butter mix over biscuits and bake for an additional five minutes.

* I find that if I melt the butter too soon, it tends to congeal/be soaked up by the parsley/garlic, and I don’t have enough for all the biscuits.

Biscuit recipe via Skinnytaste

Bisquick substitute via Unsophisticook

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Dipping Sauce

Amanda and I first tried this on one of our cooking nights last summer... before we had babies. The boys really enjoyed it, as did we; they were delicious!

I couldn't find straight up pineapple preserves so I just used an apricot-pineapple preserve and I skipped the jalapeno because those scare me.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh jalapeno pepper
• 1/2 cup pineapple preserves
• 1 pound uncooked large shrimp peeled and deveined
• 2 egg whites
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

1. Combine lime juice, jalapeno pepper, and pineapple preserves in a small bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small bowl beat egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.
4. Place cornstarch and coconut on two separate plates. Hold shrimp by the tail and dip and coat the shrimp with cornstarch. Next, dip the shrimp in the egg whites and finally in the coconut coating well.
5. Place shrimp on the cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until coconut is a golden brown. Make sure to turn it once halfway through (around 8 minutes into cooking time) to make sure both sides brown.
6. Serve with pineapple dipping sauce.

Photo and recipe from www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

Basil Quinoa Cakes

Photo from Greatist.com

I stumbled on this recipe while searching for an old quinoa cake recipe. The "basil" caught my eye because... for goodness's sake... who doesn't love basil?!? Quinoa is one of the slightly out there foods to which Lauren introduced me, giving it a special place in my heart and kitchen.  The original recipe called for frying them in a few tablespoon of oil. I'm working really hard at eating better right now so I opted to bake them (I also fried a few to see the difference and was VERY surprised at how well the baked ones came out. To form the patties I used a pancake shaper (very technical cooking term - see right) because then I could pack the quinoa mixture and form a nice round patty which will make them less likely to fall apart. These freeze great, so double or triple the batch. And it really does require that many eggs... I tried with fewer and didn't get the right consistency.

They're great plain or dipped in sour cream or hummus. Later this week Amanda and I will be eating them in pita pockets with hummus, cucumber, and sprouts.

Ingredients:

 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 large white or yellow onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2/3 cup bread crumbs (plus a few extra tablespoons if needed)

Directions:

1. Combine cooked quinoa, beaten eggs, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add basil, cheese, garlic, and onion, and stir until evenly mixed.
2. Add bread crumbs and let stand so crumbs absorb some moisture. The mixture should be easily formed into balls without falling apart. If needed, add a couple tablespoons of breadcrumbs and let stand a few minutes more.
3. Form patties by hand or with pancake shaper device and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes.

Modified from Greatist.com

Grilled Pesto Shrimp

Photo Courtesy of Skinnytaste.com

Amanda and I made these a few months ago (maybe a year now... doesn't matter). Last week I actually had frozen uncooked shrimp and some frozen pesto from the last time I made some so I defrosted both  for a revisit of this recipe. I decided not to do pesto on Max's, to increase the odds that he'd eat them. I was reminded as I was cooking of the downside of pesto slathered shrimp... one can no longer tell when they've turned pink (i.e. when they are done cooking). Happily, this time around I had Max's plain skewer to tell me when the shrimp were cooked. So my advice is thread one shrimp on your skewer that doesn't have pesto as a doneness gauge. I also didn't follow the recipe for the pesto, I probably threw in some spinach and pine nuts but, because the pesto isn't the focus of this dish, even store bought pesto would work great!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (weight after peeled)
• kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 7 wooden skewers

Directions:

In a food processor pulse basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil while pulsing.

Combine raw shrimp with pesto and marinate a few hours in a bowl. Soak wooden skewers in water at least 20 minutes (or use metal ones to avoid this step). Threadshrimp onto 7 skewers.  

Heat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan over medium-low heat until hot. Be sure the grates are clean and spray lightly with oil. Place the shrimp on the hot grill and cookuntil shrimp turns pink on the bottom, about 3-4 minutes; turn and continue cooking until shrimp is opaque and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. 

Recipe from skinnytaste.com