Pasta for One

In all honesty I'm not so sure that this counts as a recipe. My husband was finishing off the last of the leftover Cafe Rio Salads and I was looking around the kitchen wondering what to eat and I found a half of a garden zucchini, garlic and some cherry tomatoes and thought that would make a fresh and tasty meal.

This vague recipe is enough for one person but could easily be adapted for two or more people. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 frozen chicken tenders

1/2 tsp Italian seasonings

sprinkle of Lawry's season salt and onion powder

6 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup chopped zucchini

1 1/2 clove garlic (or 1 large clove), minced

1/8 tsp salt

4 cranks of fresh ground pepper

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, enough to coat the veggies

3 tbsp grated/shredded Parmesan

Splash of heavy cream

Linguine noodles 

DIRECTIONS:

Mince garlic, quarter tomatoes, chop zucchini then toss all 3 ingredients together on to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and toss with the 1 tbsp of olive oil until lightly coated. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the veggies and put them in the oven under the broiler for about 5 - 10 minutes until soft and slightly charred. Check frequently during that 5 -10 minutes to make sure they aren't burning and stir mixture.

Cook the chicken in a small frying pan. Season with Lawry's , onion powder and Italian seasoning. Cook completely and let sit. 

Cook linguine noodles according to package directions. 

Chop chicken into bite size pieces and add to the broiled veggies. Drain the pasta, add the veggies and chicken directly into the hot pasta pot and stir until combined. Add the Parmesan and a splash of heavy cream to the noodles, just enough to make a light coating on your noodles. Pour the pasta into a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. DELISH!

Notes: I think this is a pretty basic pasta that you could adapt to create anything you'd like. If you'd like more sauce I would recommend adding a little more cream, cheese and possibly even some chicken stock. 

Recipe: The Gregarious Glutton

Beer Battered Zucchini Fries

This is another recipe that lets me utilize my garden goodies. I know this isn't THE MOST healthy side but make sure you have a big salad and you'll be just fine.

INGREDIENTS:

Zucchini - I used half of one LARGE zucchini. It was enough for two of us. 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 egg yolks

1 cup beer

2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare the zucchini: wash, dry, seed if necessary and slice into 1/2 inch thick fries. Set aside. 

Whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and vegetable oil. Next, drizzle the egg mixture over the flour and mix together with a fork to create a shaggy dough. Slowly pour in the beer while constantly whisking , until a smooth batter forms. . Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (up to 4 hours) before frying.

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or cast iron pot until it reaches 375 F. working with one batch of zucchini fries at a time. Drop them into the batter, making sure each one is coated. Using tongs, gently add them to the oil and fry until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes.  Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on the paper towel-lined pan.  Allow oil to come back up to 375 degrees F. and start the next batch of zucchini.  Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. We love ranch and even ketchup. 

NOTES: 

I had a lot of batter on my zucchini and with the second batch we shook a little extra off and they turned out great. Make sure to add the zucchini fries one at a time so they don't clump together.  Feel free to slice these a little thicker if you want more veggie-less deep fry :)

Recipe: Slightly adapted from The Brown Eyed Baker

Zucchini Bread

If you're like me you've got zucchini coming out of your ears! It's amazing how fast they grow. This is another wonderful recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe that I have used for a year or two. The only change I have made to her recipe is putting a frosting/glaze over the top.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound zucchini ( approx. 1 to 1&1/2 cups shredded and wrung out)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plain yogurt (not fat-free)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice or sour cream
6 tbsp butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat 9 inch x 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. (Mel and I both use Baker's Joy brand spray. It's awesome)

Prepare the zucchini by cleaning, cutting off ends, seeding (if necessary) and shredding. In the original recipe it says to finely shred the zucchini however, I find that using a cheese grater is easy and I personally like the larger pieces of zucchini in the bread. With a clean kitchen towel wrap up the shredded zucchini and wring it out over the sink to squeeze out all the excess water. You should have about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of dry zucchini. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. In a smaller bowl, mix the sugar, yogurt, eggs, lemon juice or sour cream, and butter until combined.

Gently fold the yogurt mixture and zucchini into the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients together until just combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake 45 - 55 minutes until golden brown and a thin knife or skewer comes out clean when testing the center. Let cool for 10 minutes and turn out onto a wire rack to cool for at least one hour. Store well covered for at least 3 days.

This is fabulous with just butter however, I've added some frosting/glaze to the bread as well.

Glaze/frosting is a simple powdered sugar and butter frosting.
Melt 1/2 stick of butter or margarine
Add 1 tsp vanilla
Whisk in 1 1/2 - 2 cups of powdered sugar - add more if too thin.
If it's too thick add small amounts of milk until you reach your desired consistency.

NOTES:
Mel suggests using that if you are short on zucchini to add shredded carrots to make up the difference.(yum)

This recipe is for 1- 9x5 loaf. However, you can also get 2 loafs by using smaller loaf pans 8.5x4.5 and filling them up equally. This doesn't have a significant change in bake time. I checked mine 45 minutes and they were perfect.  If you are making this bread into one loaf  it will create a beautiful dome on top of your bread. Using 2 pans will not create such a dome but then there is more to share!

Recipe: Slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe