Carpe Zuchinni !

There are some vegetables that seem to be always present in the grocery stores. You see lettuce, and you instantly think of salad, for example. You see cabbage and you think coleslaw, cabbage rolls or an interesting weapon to roll at the geese who are congregating on your lawn like some kind of waterfowl street gang. Looking like they are contemplating uprooting your newly planted lettuce.Or breaking in to Occupy The Couch. You gotta protect what's yours and that cabbage is so big and cheap...

 It's all good. Not really interesting or approved by the ASAP, but it's a way to use it . For a meal.

And then there is zucchini. Always available, but a lot of people look at it and have no idea how to use it and make it shine. Sure, you could cube it and toss it in marinara sauce  or shred it into muffins or even slice and layer it into a lasagna. Or cook it with tomato and eggplant, calling it Ratatouille .None of these are bad ways, but none of these make it shine. May I suggest  a step outside of the box ? Serve it Carpaccio style !

Now for a brainiac moment- what exactly is carpaccio style ? It basically means raw. It is a style invented at Harry's Bar in Venice in 1950 for a Princess who was under doctor's orders to eat meat only raw. The chef dressed the meat with a simple mustard sauce and called it Carpaccio because it reminded him of the colors in  paintings done by the 15th century painter Vittore Carpaccio.They, like the dish, looked so alive and vibrant.  It is a style that not only tastes good, but looks good,

Zucchini Carpaccio

Zucchinis ( depends on how many you are serving, how big the zucchinis are, how much you like this veg) 
chopped parsley
a few leaves of basil cut into ribbons
a few fresh lemons
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Wash and slice the zucchinis into thin slices. Lay on a plate and sprinkle with salt, pepper, lemon juice , herbs and cheese. Repeat.
It tastes very fresh and delicious. Zucchini is one of the very few vegetables my son has been slow to enjoy in any cooked fashion, but loves it in this style because it does not have the "mushy" quality that cooked zucchini has.Good thing is that you can easily serve this  as a side with burgers, pizza and so forth, with a lot less effort than a tossed salad requires. Give it a whirl !

Thinking and playing

Yesterday Nick was feeling better, back to his normal sparkley self, and it even more normal. The weather decided to play "let's be threatening" all day , so we broke out the Wii and spent almost two hours playing cycling races, archery and dog frisbee. Dark ominous clouds kept rolling in, but the rain never happened. Nick gets really freaked out at storms( he thinks lightning is going to fry him or every wind is a tornado) and thunder is a real sensory overload. All things considered with how he has felt the last while, I decided it would be best not to push and just use this Wii time to trasition back into the world of more activity.Would you believe that you can actually break a sweat doing the cycling races and it gets your heart rate up ??? It's true.

We caught a few more shows on The Cooking Channel, and I am finding that even the thought of some of the dishes prepared by people who go "BAM", are enough to make my stomach flip. Flavor should be the star, and the way those flavors dance and play together the feature. Not fat! While fat is important to your health, to have it as the star ingredient dulls the pallet. Add a stick of butter and you have herbs and seasonings trapped because they have been dulled. Add lard and nothing can mingle. A pinch of salt turns up the volume on some flavors , but it quickly reaches a level where it bullies them into quiet submission. Cooking is an art, and like all arts , you can either mass produce it so that it becomes as common as a smiley face . Or you can take time and create something that is a masterpeice. I think when you experience a masterpiece all of your senses come alive, drink it in and you are soon deeply satisfied. When all you see is smiley faces, your senses become dulled and you over-consume simply to feel something. I believe Nick is understanding this as well, and he gets excited at people who do things like roast beets, shave carrots into simple salads and combine things like oranges and basil. He kept asking if we could make this and that, and it inspired me for a whole new idea. This Saturday when we go shopping , abandon the menu plan and the lists. Simply go and buy food- whatever is in season, whatever looks vibrant and whatever is on sale. Could be suicide, but I suspect that it is going to be a heck of a lot of fun !

For dinner I tried a new to me recipe for yellow squash. In this area yellow squash becomes as abundant as zucchini this time of year ( and it is going to pick up production even more in the next 3 weeks), and there is a rush to find ways to use it.It can be used in any recipe calling for zucchini, as well as eaten raw. I honestly prefer the taste of the yellow squash over the zucchini.To me it has a mild buttery taste. This recipe combines that buttery flavor with basil and lemon, which seems to remind me of afternoons as a kid running through a lawn sprinkler on a hot summer day

Summer Squash Saute- serves 4

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
1/4 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced( or 2 T dried basil)
1 pound yellow squash ( or zucchini, pattypan or a combination of all 3)
fresh ground black pepper
juice of one lemon

Trim ends of squash, cut lengthwise and then into half moons about 1/8 inch thick. Heat oil in a skillet, place the squash in and season with salt and pepper. Saute till the squash is slightly tender and slightly golden brown. Add lemon juice and remove from heat. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

Back to normal

I think I see the light . At last !

Yesterday afternoon Nick was feeling better and suddenly decided he did not need so much constant attention from me anymore. I was even able to talk him into going out for a short walk. If nothing else, a few minutes of fresh air and sunshine would do the both of us a world of good, and so about mid afternoon we went out. For allergy sufferers, early morning and early evening are the worst times to head out , as that is when the pollen concentration it at it's highest. Mid- day is hotter, but less loaded with the stuff that will turn you into a faucet of gunk ! I think normal is returning at long last !

But what exactly is normal ? I think it gets re-defined with each revelation . The more you learn, the more your definition of normal changes. Normal for your school years is very different from your adult years, and normal eating when you are at your worst is very different from normal eating when you decide to live a healthy lifestyle. Normal evolves as you evolve.

I noticed a shift in my thinking over the last week or so. I think it happened while watching numerous shows on the new Cooking Network while giving Nick acupressure, ice backs and so forth. We watched a lot of cooking shows to help get his mind off pain. Some of the classics were on , like Grahm Kerr, and some new rising stars like Jamie Oliver and The Spice Goddess. I watched , and realized that the very best chefs used the most basic, minimal ingredients to create the most wonderful meals. Take fresh watermelon, fresh basil, combine the two and you have this wonderful dish that elevates the flavor of both of these ingredients to a whole new level. No need for all kinds of chemicals to make it sing and dance- it does so just because of it's own power. Not only does it taste wonderful and innovative, but it is less likely to do our bodies harm. It has high flavor, real nutrition and we are less likely to overindulge because we are actually satisfied by it. Hence comes a new normal for me- I want to make and serve food created in this simple, real style !

I began last night with this new way of preparing zucchini- raw, seasoned with simple ingredients and very delicious. It reminded us of those simple cucumber onion salads you find at summer gatherings

Zucchini Carpaccio

2 medium zucchini
salt and pepper to taste
1 T olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 onion, sliced thin
3 T Parmesan cheese
fresh mint leaves for garnish

With knife or mandolin slice zucchini very thin. Place on a plate in a single layer,
season with salt and pepper . Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with
onion slices and Parmesan cheese. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.

Speaking of summer, we were able to eat a few of the tomatoes that we grew here from seed. Planted in little containers, grown indoors and pollinated by hand with a paint brush. It was a successful home school experiments that sadly had to be destroyed because of the bed bug spray prep.
I did not think it would be safe to eat any of the ripening tomatoes after the spraying , so we ate the few ripe ones and tossed the plants. Then they decided we did not need to be bug bombed, so the plants were destroyed for nothing. Sniff....

Godzilla veggie laszgna

For all of those of you who do not cook , or are afraid to cook for fear of messing up, today's post will make you feel good and hopefully give you courage to try anything . I am going to share with you an important fact- that is those of us who do cook, always have those dishes that are a complete fail. I had one yesterday, complete with pictures of the process ! It's something I will call Godzilla Veggie Lasagna

Godzilla Veggie lasagna - makes 6 generous servings

1 box oven ready lasagna noodles
1 cup ricotta cheese( small container)
1 bag low fat shredded mozzarella
1 jar marinara sauce of your choice
1 container red pepper hummus
1 eggplant
2 cups fresh spinach
1 zucchini
2 shallots
1 red pepper
3 Mexican orange peppers( or any other kind of bell pepper you can get your hands on)
2 carrots

Get a 9x13 cake pan. Spread about a third of a cup of sauce on the bottom of the pan and place a layer of the no boil noodles.Top noodles with half of the hummus, half of the ricotta and then begin layering veggies.

Look quizzically at the pan and wonder how you will fit everything in beyond one big layer.

Question physics as you dump the entire bag of cheese in the pan, then add the remaining ricotta and hummus. Place remaining veggies on top , a layer of noodles and then the remaining sauce.


Invent an aluminum foil girdle type device for the pan , praing that the contents will not leak out. Place pan on a cookie sheet, and place in a 375 degree oven for 1 1/2 hrs, because you are not certain that there will be enough liquid from the veggies to steam the noodles . Serve to family with great optomisim

The verdict ? Veggies were still crunchy. Next time either blanch the veggies before assembly OR find a way to cook this baby in the crock pot. The no boil noodles were a little tough as well, so back to the drawing board. I served it with an AWESOME salad, who's recipe comes originally from Sweet Tomatoes, but I changed a few things to make it closer to my own nutritional standards. I am going to try this again with a healthier substitute for the lemonaid concentrate

Summer Lemon with Spiced Pecans Tossed Salad

Dressing- Yields 5 cups
3 cups Mayonnaise- whole egg
2 cups Lemonade Concentrate
2 ½ TBLS Dijon Mustard
Combine ingredients and whisk until smooth.
( this dressing has an AMAZING lemon flavor and a little goes a long way !)

Spiced Pecans
1 ¼ cups ¼” Diced Pecans
1 c water
2 TBLS White Sugar
¾ tsp Ground Cumin
½ tsp Table Salt
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Pour water in a small sauce pan. Add sugar, cumin, salt, cayenne pepper. Heat until bubbling and sugar dissolves. Immediately add pecans and stir to coat. Spread pecans on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until brown and toasted. Store remaining nuts in a jar- try not to mindlessly snack on these !

Salad
place Chopped Romaine and watercress blend in bowl. Add dried crasins, spiced pecans and toss with lemon dressing.

Exercise wise it was a great day. For some reason I am really falling in love with wall squats. They feel amazing on my back . Weird !

Can you pass the test ?

Planning and cleaning day yesterday for me- two very necessary chores for the smooth running of this house. Menu planning keeps us on track food-wise, money-wise and helps me with time management. Housecleaning keeps us all sane and organized. They can be boring jobs, but I have come to embrace the act of planning as an adventure all in itself. I also began to plot out next weeks homeschool lessons, and was reminded by the calendar that it is about time to do our annual attempt at the President's Physical Fitness Challenge. Anyone remember that ? It is a standard of fitness that tests the number of push ups, sit ups , running speed and so forth to label one as fit or unfit. While checking for this year's resources , I came upon a PDF document that has the Adult Fitness Test. Think you can pass it ? Check it out here. If nothing else, if you do not belong to a gym or have a trainer, this could make for a good basis on which to form your own workout plan .

Breakfast was overnight oats with apples and pears added in with the morning heating and topped with a tablespoon of ricotta cheese. Reason for this addition was that I have part of a container of ricotta in the fridge that will go out of code soon, so I am looking for creative ways to use it up. Tasted pretty good !

Lunch was Split Pea soup, raw veggies and walnut hummus. Walnut hummus makes for a nice variation , and can be a little easier to find the ingredients for most home kitchens

Walnut hummus

1 can drained chickpeas
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (omit if you don’t have them)
2/3 cups chopped walnuts
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
sea salt to taste

process in a food processor till smooth

Dinner was black bean burgers with Zucchini Skillet. I thought the zuchini dish would be flavorful, but we discovered that it really needed something with a more savory flavor to add in. The combination of sweet potatoes , corn and bell peppers made it too sweet for our tastes.After I snapped the photo we began to eat it and wound up putting a spoon of ricotta cheese on top to balance out the flavors. Next time I will try adding nuts to this or substituting the parsley for cilantro or something.

Bean Burgers ( makes 4)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups black beans
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. wheat germ or oatmeal

Chop the sunflower seeds in a food processor or hand chopper and mash the beans with a potato masher or food processor and mix. Mix in the remaining ingredients and form patties. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool until you can pick up each patty and compress it firmly in your hands to reform the burger. Then cook for another 15 minutes on each side.


Zucchini Skillet- serves 6

3 cups diced sweet potatoes
1/3 cup water
2 cups diced zucchini
1 cup diced red onion
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup green onion -- sliced
1red pepper -- diced
1 green pepper -- diced
2 orange peppers--diced
1 clove garlic -- minced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

In a covered large skillet, saute the sweet potatoes in water for about 10 minutes.
Add zucchini, red onions, corn, green onions, red peppers, green peppers, and garlic.
Saute in water until vegetables are tender. Add remaining ingredients and allow flavors
to blend. Serves 6.