Zucchini Pizzas with Basil

I was able to buy a round zucchini at the local farmer's market. A friend had told me that she was going to grill pizzas from the one she got, so I thought I'd give it a go as well. In case you haven't seen a round zucchini, they look like this:

....kind of like a pumpkin, but green! So fun and so many possibilities in cooking with them.

First, I cut slices about 1/2" thick. I coated each side with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil so that when I put them on the grill, they wouldn't stick. Unfortunately, my zucchini pizzas didn't make it on the BBQ (starter wasn't working and I couldn't get the dang thing lit). I used my George Forman to cook the already coated-with-EVOO zucchini discs. Four to five minutes was all that was needed. I then put them on a cookie sheet, smeared a little pasta sauce on them, sprinkled with grated mozzarella cheese, and then baked them at 350* for about 10 minutes until the cheese melted. After cutting some fresh basil from my garden, I sliced it up and sprinkled it on the baked "pizzas."
 

I served these with a large salad with plenty of greens and sprouts, and some rolls. Delicious!

Oatmeal with Chia and Blueberries

One of my favorite breakfasts is hot cereal with chia. I usually add some organic blueberries or cherries (you can get them frozen at Costco).  I use a Marga Flaker to turn my oat groats into flaked oats for quicker cooking.

In the picture above, I combined flaked oat groats, flaked sprouted brown rice and added some oat bran and hemp seed. I use about 1/4c. of this and add 1 c. water to cook. Once the cereal has started to thicken, I add about 1/2 c. of sprouted chia. I keep this in the refrigerator and add to smoothies as well. Simmer on low until cereal is cooked and  mixture is thickened. Add frozen berries and stir into cereal. Top with a little yogurt if desired.

Microgreens a more nutritious vegetable?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/08/29/160274163/introducing-microgreens-younger-and-maybe-more-nutritious-vegetables

Great article from NPR's blog, the salt. 

Basically, the article says that current nutrition studies indicate that microgreens may pack more nutrition than other vegetables.

I've got several trays of sunflower greens growing right now. We love them in salads. Delicious!

Yellow Squash Chips

Do you have more yellow or zucchini squash than you need? I'm always looking for different ways to use summer squash. Making seasoned chips is an easy way to use up the squash, and have a healthy snack at the same time!

Yellow Squash

After washing the squash, and cutting off the ends, I use a mandolin to cut uniform slices from the squash. When the slices are the same thickness, they dry in the same amount of time.

Mandolin and summer squash slices

Next, arrange the slices on your dehydrator trays. Don't overlap. You want them to dry at about the same time.


Yellow squash slices on dehydrator tray

The next step is to season the soon-to-be-chips with whatever seasoning sounds good to you. I made some with BBQ seasoning, with dill, and the ones pictured below are seasoned with a  Mediterranean blend with salt. A light amount of salt/seasoning is preferred. I would use a little less seasoning on the next batch I make (see picture below).

Dry these at 115* for 5-6 hours until paper thing and breakable. You don't want any flexibility in the chips. They will be crisp and easily broken.

Mediterranean seasoned squash chips

As usual, we ate this finished product before I got the last picture! They were delicious and they went fast! So next time you have a bunch of extra squash, don't leave it on the neighbor's door step and play doorbell ditch! Make yourself these healthy and delicious squash chips. These are best eaten within a couple of days of dehydrating.

Mung Bean Sprouts

Mung Bean Sprouts from Freshlife Automatic Sprouter

This week I've been harvesting zucchini, tomatoes and Swiss Chard from my garden. I also grew some mung bean sprouts in my Freshlife Automatic Sprouter.

I made spring rolls one night, and a stir fry another night. It's always fun to eat them right from the refrigerator as well!

Delicata Squash in my Container Garden

Last fall, I was in Las Vegas and stopped by Whole Foods, looking for delicata squash. I was able to purchase some, and we absolutely loved it! I saved the seeds so that I could try my hand at growing it.  I've been somewhat frustrated trying to get it to grow past what you see in the above picture. It is growing in pots, so if I don't get the water just right, the little squashes just shrivel up. Image my happiness when I noticed a huge delicata squash growing!

I've finally picked it, and I'll serve it with dinner tomorrow. I will make a post tomorrow on how to prepare it in a simple, delicious way.

Have you had success growing delicata squash? Post a comment if you have and let me know how successful you've been growing it.

Green Bean, Cucumber and Cherry Tomato Salad

Hopefully, like me, you have plenty of cherry tomatoes growing in your garden. I love eating them just picked from the garden, so it is amazing that any make it back into the kitchen! I'm not growing green beans this year, but I got some locally grown for this recipe.

This salad is a perfect side dish, or can be eaten as a main course. I like to include it as one of several salads for our evening meal.

Green Bean, Cucumber and Cherry Tomato Salad

1-2 cups green beans, blanched and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 large seedless cucumber, chopped

1/2 c. chopped flat leaf parsley

3 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1 TBSP lemon juice

4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Assemble all vegetables in a bowl. Mix balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper into a small bowl and whisk until blended; pour desired amount of dressing over the vegetables.