Creamy Basil Zucchini Salad

An actual food post!  I know...it's been a very long time.  I just haven't been adventuring in the kitchen lately.  What I have been doing lately though, is craving cole slaw with my sandwich at lunch.  But I keep forgetting to buy cabbage.  I really wanted some kind of creamy cold salad with my lunch today, so I came up with this idea.  It was quite satisfying.

1 carrot, coarsely grated

3 inches of a medium zucchini, chopped small

1/2 avocado, chopped small

1 handful fresh basil, finely chopped

1 tbsp mustard (I used Jack Daniels Mustard)

1 spoonful mayonnaise

garlic powder (to taste)

Mix everything together and enjoy next to the sandwich of your choice. 

This recipe makes approximately 2 servings.

Zucchini Pizza

Pizza Dough

2 tsp yeast

7 oz hot water (120 degrees)

garlic powder

oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 c whole wheat flour

2 c white flour

1 tbsp olive oil

Toppings

marinara/Basil-Cashew Pesto mix

sliced tomato

spaghetti-ed zucchini

fresh basil

colby jack cheese

Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes

Deliciousness.  I had some salmon on the side, extra deliciousness.

Zucchini Scones

A friend gave me a gigantic zucchini the other day.  She told me as long as you didn't use the inside portion where the seeds are, the zucchini is perfectly edible despite its gargantuan size.  So I pulled out one of my favorite kitchen gadgets and went to work on the 1/3 of the zucchini.

I had some of this zucchini spaghetti with last night's delicious dinner, but there was still some left over.  (Not to mention the 2/3 of the zucchini still uncut...)  Today I decided to bake something with the remaining zucchini spaghetti.  My first thought was chocolate chip zucchini bread, but the recipe calls for 3 eggs and I wanted to do something that required fewer eggs.  Then scones came to mind.  I found this recipe online, and then adapted it.  Because we all know I hate following recipes.

Zucchini Scones

preheat oven to 400

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2+ c white flour

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c butter

1 c spaghetti-ed zucchini

1 peach, chopped

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 c almond milk

bake for 20-25 minutes

I mixed the dry ingredients together in my stand mixer.  I used a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until it was in small pea-sized lumps.  I dumped the zucchini and peach on top of the dry ingredients, then, after mixing the wet ingredients separately, I added them and let the mixer do it's work.  The dough was super sticky, so I added flour 1/2 c at a time until it was...less sticky.  I added at least another cup.  Then, I floured my silpat and transferred the dough.  It was still too sticky to spread well, so I sprinkled more flour on top.  Then I was able to pat it down to about 1/2 inch thick.  I cut out the scones and transferred them to a greased cookie sheet. 

The scones were tasty, but not nearly as flavorful as I was hoping.  If I make them again, I will increase the amounts of cumin and cinnamon, and see what happens.  Also, I was going to put chocolate chips in them but I forgot...so that might happen next time too!

Cumin-Rosemary-Ginger Pork

This is the first time I cooked pork in the oven instead of in the crock-pot or on the stove-top.  I had originally intended to stick the 1 1/2 pound tenderloin in the crock-pot to make some of my delicious apple-cider cinnamon pulled pork, but I never quite got around to getting out the crock-pot.  So, I decided to use the oven for once.

I coated the pork with ginger, cumin, and rosemary, and stuck it in the 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Then, I flipped it over and cooked it for another 30 minutes.

I had some for dinner along with zucchini spaghetti (sauteed in olive oil with garlic and ginger) and quinoa. 

It was delicious.  

Gazpacho-ish

Cool and refreshing.  Pretty thick though, I should have used regular tomatoes instead of roma tomatoes so there would be more juice .

Chop all ingredients, then put them in a food processor.  My processor is small so I had to do a few ingredients at a time and then mix them together in a separate bowl.  If you have a big processor, feel free to process everything at once . 

veggies

1/4 c onion

1/4 c carrots

2 roma tomatos

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

basil leaves

big handful spinach leaves

seasonings

garlic

ginger

mustard 

cumin

liquids

rice vinegar

olive oil

veggie stock

First I processed the onion, carrots, 1 tomato, and some basil with a dash of vinegar and olive oil.  Then, I processed the zucchini with some olive oil and the seasonings, then the yellow squash with some olive oil, then the last tomato and some more basil.  Then I processed the spinach.  I mixed all the ingredients together, and it was super thick so I added some more olive oil and a bit of veggie stock to try to make it a bit looser.

I added a spoonful of plain yogurt to the gazpacho I had with dinner.

Gazpacho/yogurt, sloppy joe, and some chips.  

Dinner is served.

Ratatouille Pasta

 Ratatouille

3 cloves garlic

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

8 white mushrooms

1 tomato

basil

oregano

thyme

8 oz pasta

Boil water for pasta.  (add the pasta when ready) Chop the vegetables.  Mince the garlic and brown it in olive oil.  When the garlic is browned, add the zucchini, squash, and seasonings.  When the zucchini is almost done, add the mushrooms.  When the mushrooms are almost done, add the tomato and turn off the heat.  

 Toss the pasta with about 1/4 c alfredo sauce and 1/2 c marinara sauce.  Add the ratatouille.  Use a slotted spoon, you don't want all the water from the tomatoes to get mixed into the pasta.  

I had more ratatouille than I needed for the pasta so I left some out to be used for something else. 

Dinner is served.

 Delicious with baked chicken.