maleficent

Ok - so it's summer... gardens are blooming.. share your best veggie recipes.


Simple Zucchini
(serves 2 maybe - or 1 hungry person)

2 smallish zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise
1 tbs good olive oil
2 tbs good parmesean cheese, use a vegetable peeler to get curlies
several grinds of black pepper

Using a grill pan (or on a real grill, or in the broiler), put zucchini face down in and grill about 10 minutes, til it gets lightly browned, has nice grill markings and is warm all the way thru, but not soft and mushy.

While still hot, slice zucchini into 1/2 inch chunks and put in a bowl
Add Olive oil and parmesean cheese and toss together.
Add black pepper.

This can be served at room temp, but you want to add the olive oil and cheese while it's still hot... it gets sooo fragrant and tasty.

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la petite moi

Easy semi-bruschetta:

Two tomatoes (Roma preferred)
A couple cups of Italian mushrooms, sliced
Teaspoon italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Four cloves minced garlic
Two big slices of sourdough bread
Lots of parmesan cheese
Red wine vinegar
Balsamic vinegar

Okay, so first, toast the two slices of bread. While you're doing this, saute the mushrooms using olive oil. Add in the vinegars (to your taste), the italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic. Saute until dark brown. Then add in the tomatoes, diced, and about half of your parmesan cheese. Stir around until the tomatoes are kinda mushy. When the bread is toasted, drain any excess liquid from your tomato/mushrooms, and then top the tost with it. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Eat!

Willravel

I've always loved raw veggies. I have green beans in my backyard that are perfect for snacking. I have a bit of a problem, though. I have GIANT zucchini. I've measured some as long as a half a meter. I want to eat them, or share them with friends or neighbors, but I don't know of any ways to serve giant veggies. Note also that the taste isn't quite as sweet. I tried making soup, but it was somewhat lacking in substance. I figure that next time I will accompany the soup with steak and mushrooms. Anyone have any ideas?

Great thread, btw.

Mal, I like the idea of adding cheese, olive oil, and pepper. That might give the zucchini a lot more character.

maleficent

Ididnt even use garlic and it was amazingly good...

For your mutant zucchini...

one way of doing it is as - Lydia bastianivich woudl say -- an Involtini.. or a roll up
when I've done them i've kinda fudged a recipe but it's tomatoes, mushroooms (cuz I like them), onions, garlic, and rice and an assortment of italian herbs (add meat if you like), then the zucchini is cut into long strips and the rice mixture is put inside and rolled up- and coverd wieth tomato sauce and some cheese if you like and baked - it's kinda like an italian baked stuffed cabbage....


Something else with your zucchini, not sure if you've done it - but when cut it - -get rid of the seeds, it will make whatever you do less waterey and you'll have more zucchini flavor..

Just even a simple stew (and this has an italian name that I cannot remember) of zucchini, garlic, onions, eggplant, and tomatoes - throw it all ina crock pot or dutch oven and let cook for a while..

My vocabulary came back.. ratatouille is the dish i was thinking of...

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Rodney

This is an easy one; not precise, because I do it off the top of my head:

Sauteed brocolli/garlic/tofu

Cut up half (or whole) box o' firm tofu into _small_ cubes or strips. Marinate for half an hour in a mix of soy sauce and water (50/50) and chopped garlic (four cloves, or to taste). Just enough liquid to cover the soy, no more.

Wash and cut a head of broccolli into flowerets; cut the flowerets in half so they're flat on one side.

Sautee the broccoli in a frypan in a little oil. When the pan starts to go dry, add the tofu -- liquid and garlic and all -- mix it up, turn the heat to low, and cover.

Cook until the broccoli is done to your taste. If the pan starts going dry before you think the broc's done, hit it with some more soy sauce and maybe a little more oil.

When done, serve over rice. This is real "guy" food (informal procedure, strong flavors), but I swear the smell is heavenly and it'll bring everybody within nose-range over to see "what's on the stove."

la petite moi

Mal, ratatouille is actually French, not Italian.

Hey, willravel, I'll take some zucchini off your hands!

Willravel

I've grown 6 zucchini in the past week that are 1.5 meters or longer. I'm giving them to people on the street.

la petite moi

Where are you located in SJ? Send me a PM! I'll take some off your hands...

Willravel

I'll let you know when I get my next batch.

dtheriault

One of the best things I used to eat when I was a kid was stuffed zucchini. You need a LARGE zucchini to do it right.

Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise.

Cook the zucchini just a little underdone then take out the seeds and some of the flesh: save that flesh for later but chop it up into smaller pieces.

To the chopped zucchini add cooked italian sausage pieces: I like the spicy Italian type- then add tomato pieces and whatever other veggies you have laying around. Then put the mixture back into the zucchini and top it off with a little or a lot of cheese and throw it in the oven until the whole thing heats through.

Then slice and serve.

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la petite moi

Zucchini boats

Boil four zucchini in water, until they are soft inside, but not mushy. After they cool slightly, cut lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and set aside. In a pan, saute mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic and white onions together in olive oil with italian seasonings, salt, and pepper. After tomatoes become mushy and mushrooms are dark brown, take mixture, and scoop into the little zucchini boats you had put aside. After zucchini are filled, top with grated parmesan cheese, place in a baking pan, and put in the oven to broil for around 5 minutes. The cheese should come out melted and slightly browned.

Eat!

Demeter

Spinach with chopped apples, real bacon, crumbled, and a little olive oil shaken with lemon juice.

Dill pickled carrots are so good, to make 'fake' ones & let baby carrots sit overnight in pickling vinegar with a pinch of dried dill.

Broccoli, cubed cheese, green onion, a finely chopped pickle, julienned red pepper & celery, moistened with Miracle Whip & a big spoonful of dijon mustard. It's supposed to be made as a pasta salad, but unless it's for company I leave the pasta out of it.

A friend serves baby potatoes like this at BBQs...
Precook baby potatoes in microwave 10-12 minutes or until almost cooked.
Toss with Italian dressing, enough to keep the potatoes wet, and place on aluminum foil (or baking dish if using oven).
Cover with grated parmesan cheese & fresh ground pepper. Wrap up well with foil & throw on BBQ until finished, or in the oven at 350 degrees until cooked through & chesses is bubbly & browning.

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snowy

The best part of summer, in my mind, is heirloom tomatoes! The tomatoes one gets in the grocery store have no flavor compared to heirlooms. Romas are okay, but if you haven't tried heirloom tomatoes--do.

Here is my favorite:

Caprese Salad

A couple big tomatoes
Some basil leaves
good olive oil
fresh mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper

Slice the tomatoes thickly, and do the same with the cheese. Layer the tomatoes and cheese on a platter or plate, tomato-cheese, then top with a couple fresh leaves of basil, a healthy drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Eat.

We also grill a lot of vegetables, including summer squash, zucchini, mushrooms (creminis and portobellos, usually), and Walla Walla sweet onions. Either you can grill these seperately, or sometimes we assemble them into kebabs and do it that way.

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