Zucchini, Eggplant, & Tomato Casserole
WARNING: You house will smell AWESOME while this is cooking, so you will be hungry while this bakes
Tag: healthy
Cucumber Boat Appetizer
This is the season of carefree entertaining and although I love me some roasted veggies (the house smells awesome from roasted veggies right now – look forward to those posts in the coming days & weeks) we don’t always want/need to heat up the house! This recipe easily serves 1 or 2 as an appetizer, but is obviously very easy to adapt for more. Just count (about) a whole cucumber person as you adapt this for your next gathering.
Zucchini, Tomato, Sausage & Orzo Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed Peppers – I am sure that many of you have a go-to recipe for these. How many of you have a Stuffed Pepper recipe that would help you use up some of the over-abundance of Zucchini you are now faced with!? Well, this recipe is a lighter version and also nice & healthy because some of your filling is a super healthy zucchini.
Feel free to adapt this as needed – I really think that this is one of those recipes where the ingredient amounts (and even what you put in) are totally up to you!
So its time to get creative with Stuffed Peppers… Make this vegetarian by leaving out the sausage. No Orzo – no problem, use brown rice. Want it more spicy: add it. You get the idea. Get out in the garden & then get into the kitchen!
Zucchini, Orzo & Sausage Stuffed Peppers
(Adapted from Pure & Organic – makes 2 pepper halves, I made a total of 4 peppers halved when I made this and doubled (?) the recipe)
- 1/2 cup of orzo
- 2 sausage links, squeezed out of the casings (OR about 1/4 lb ground sausage)
- 1/4 an onion, minced
- 1 – 2 cloves minced garlic
- pinch of red chili flakes
- splash of wine (red, white, whatever’s open)
- 1 medium zucchini, grated
- 1/2 cup of tomato sauce OR small can diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup Asiago OR Parmesan cheese,(fresh from a block – microplaned)
- 1 peppers, halved, ribs and seeds removed
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cook your orzo about a minute shy of the package directions. Drain and set aside. Begin to brown your sausage in a large saute pan with a drizzle of olive oil. When the sausage is just about cooked through, add the onion and chili flakes. Allow the onion to soften and become translucent, just a couple of minutes. Then deglaze the pan with a good splash of wine, making sure to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom. Add the zucchini and tomato sauce and let cook for another minute or two, until the zucchini starts to soften. Turn off the heat and stir the cooked orzo your grated cheese. Taste & adjust seasoning as necessary.
When you set your peppers into a pan, make sure they are setting flat (either in a loaf pan OR by slicing a tiny bit off of the bottom [being sure to not leave a hole in the bottom of your pepper]) OR set the peppers into their own little foil beds in the pan. Arrange the pepper halves upon the oven-bound vessel of your choosing and sprinkle the insides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stuff (tightly) the sausage and orzo mixture into each pepper half. Feel free to pile it up. Once your peppers are stuffed, put some more grated cheese atop the peppers and pop them in the oven for anywhere between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on your desired level of pepper doneness. It was perfect for us at about 20 minutes – the peppers still have a crispness to them, if you like them softer – feel free to do it that way!
* Any extra stuffing is great the next day on its own or even over some pasta!
And I leave you with this, today’s Question of the Day… What is your favorite food to stuff (shells, peppers, tomatoes, etc) AND what do you love to stuff them with?
Zucchini Cakes with Jalapeno Ranch
Who needs to plant your own garden when you have good neighbors! I know that this time of year many people feel they are over-run with Zucchini – if you find yourself in this situation, then I am sure you are already being a good …
Pickled Snap Peas
I tasted these a day later and they were good enough to eat, but resisted temptation and let them sit another week or so and they were worth the wait! These are nice and crunchy still with all the taste you would expect from something pickled. So get your harvest of peas (or go ahead and make this with the green beans that are currently in abundance) and make up a jar of these to enjoy in a few days – YUM!
Tuna Pasta Salad
This classic and awesome Tuna Pasta Salad from Kids Can Cook – the cookbook I grew up with & did lots of my early on my own cooking from. I almost did not get this cookbook when I moved out! My parents would not let me take this cookbook until they copied a few recipes from it: this was a go-to book for its simplicity and reliability, one I still enjoy as a “grown-up” chef 🙂
Feel free to add whatever fresh veggies you have laying around to this (peppers, more tomatoes, asparagus – whatever): the beauty is the perfect simple base that you can add to. The recipe I give you here is what my family adapted this pasta salad to after years of making this. And to be honest – we usually just make it as is without adding more, but more veggies would make it healthier!
Tuna Pasta Salad
from Kids Can Cook
- 6 oz macaroni (elbow or whatever you have 1/2 used in the house already)
- 1/2 cup mayonaise
- < 3 T red wine vinigar
- 1 T dried basil (or 2T fresh)
- 1/4 t granulated garlic
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 t pepper
- 2 cans tuna (drained)
- 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup thinly chopped red onion
- 1/2 cup chopped green olives
Cook maccoroni according to package directions to al dente. Drain, set aside to cool.
In your covered container combine mayonnaise, vinegar, basil, garlic, salt, & pepper. Whisk together & taste. Then add your tuna into the bowl and break up any chunks of tuna. Add your cooked pasta, onion, olives (and whatever else you want). Mix well. Store in the fridge and enjoy!
And I leave you with a question: What childhood favorite dish do you have as a go-to that is so simple but you will never give up!?