If you’ve ever grown zucchini or squash in a backyard garden, you are all too aware that you’ll reach a certain point in the summer where you begin running out of ideas of what to do with all of it. Unfortunately, it’s still spring so that wonderful problem isn’t quite upon us yet, but I thought that with the weather quickly warming, now is a good time to start prepping for the summer squash bonanza.

I might add, that I absolutely love zucchini; when forced to choose a favorite vegetable, zucchini is often my answer even though broccoli, peppers, and peas are pretty much tied with it for first. That aside however, I am always looking for delicious, hearty, non-dairy vegetarian dishes (that’s a mouthful!) that are easy to prepare because if it isn’t fairly easy to make, it won’t get made very often. Zucchini boats are something I associate with my mother, and she always filled them with a delicious cheesy, onion-y filling that was divine. (This filling also happened to be the sauce  for my parent’s baked macaroni and cheese; onion+butter+flour+milk+cheese+noddles = comfort food heaven.)  Both the macaroni and zucchini boats were certainly delicious dish, but I cannot eat them anymore due to my lactose issues. Furthermore, my boyfriend thought the macaroni sauce-filled zucchinis were rather boring texturally since it was all rather “mushy” as he put it. To fix both of these problems I came up with a new recipe that combined the best of both worlds: keep the zucchini boats and sauce, but come up with a new filling that had a different source of protein and flavor.

The recipe below makes about 4 main-course servings. To adjust, make about 1 whole zucchini per adult or 1/2 for children, and only increase the beans and onion slightly to accommodate more servings.

1 onion, diced
4 zucchini, washed
1 12 or 15 oz can black beans
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 c cheese (optional)
marinara sauce to cover (approximately 2 cups)

To prepare:

1.Preheat the oven to 450° F. NOTE: 350° F also works, but will extend the cooking time by about 10-15 minutes.

2. Fill a pot large enough to loosely and flatly fit all of the zucchini, about halfway with water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, wash the zucchini.

2. Dice the onion. Add the onion and olive oil to the sauté pan. Sauté until the onion has softened.

3. Rinse the beans thoroughly in a colander and add to the onions. Drizzle with more olive oil if needed. Sauté until warm.

3. Add the zucchini to the boiling water, reduce to medium heat, and cook for 15-20 minutes. When the zucchini bruises when you try to remove it from the water, it’s done. Remove the zucchini and place on a cutting board.

4. Cut both ends off and halve each zucchini. Then using a spoon, scoop out the seedy membrane. Be careful not to burn yourself because it needs to be done while they are still hot, and also be careful not to break the skin.

5. Dice up the seedy membrane you removed from the zucchini and add it to the beans and onion filling. That way nothing goes to waste and you get even more of that zucchini goodness!

5. Spray a small glass pan with PAM and lay the boats in so that they fit snuggly enough not to tip over, but not tightly.

6. Fill the boats with the beans and onion mixture. Then cover with cheese if desired.

7. Put in the preheated oven and cook for 10 minutes.

8. Pull out of the oven, add the marinara sauce so that is covers all of the boats, and place back in the oven for 10 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling around the sides.

That’s all there is to it! It’s about 45 minutes start to finish, but 20 minutes of it is just waiting for it to bake. This dish is a really balanced meal in and of itself and would be a nice change for vegetarians and vegans who are all to often served soggy eggplant paremsan and greasy stuffed portobello mushrooms; however, it’s also a great way to incorporate more veggies and non-meat proteins in to your diet. I served the zucchini boats with a baked potato dish, but it’s hearty enough that not much else is needed. I know I’ll be making this recipe again soon because it was a big hit! In the future I may try adding some minced garlic and freshly cracked pepper to the filling, but even without that it was full of flavor and really satisfying.

Also, the concept of filling a food with other foods, especially when you can call one a boat, is a great way to get kids to eat vegetable dishes…or at least, it worked for all the kids I know! Stuffed peppers are another good alternative, but I’ll save that for another day.

I hope you enjoy!

I highly recommend this delicious gem of a wine that I picked up for a scant $14.00 at a Fresh Market. I served it with an Italian beans and rice dish (Riso e Fagioli) which turned out to pair really nicely. The food was hearty and earthy, so I liked the way the sweetness of the wine contrasted, and then I cut up a Honeycrisp apple to serve for desert (non-dairy deserts are often rather depressing, but fresh fruit is always a winner in my book) and it went really well! Even my boyfriend, who isn’t usually in to sweets or fruit commented on how well the wine paired with the apple.

I will definitely be purchasing another bottle of this soon and keeping it on hand for a summer evening of entertaining as well as for an evening spent cuddled up with a blanket and a good book. I hope you can find a bottle in your area! It would be well worth your search. Cheers!

I read through the first issue as soon as it came and loved it. Unfortunately it was as close to winter as we get in South Carolina so it was no time to be running outside to start a garden, but I was, none-the-less, quite inspired. What’s even better is that this quarterly donates part of their subscription price to the Fresh Air Fund, helping to provide a free summer camp to children from underprivileged communities. How can you go wrong with that?!

There is a lot about seasonal gardening, as well as essays on historical practices of urban gardening (like “a primer in seed bombing and guerrilla gardening”) and contemporary urban gardening (like Truck Farms), and recipes! When I think of my childhood, I primarily think of playing in gardens and eating tomatoes, peppers, and raspberries right off the plants. I seek out those tastes and sensory experiences in local farmer’s markets, but it’s not the same as stepping outside to pick the vegetables and fruits for breakfast/lunch/dinner and creating delicious meals out of the pickings. Closely associated with these memories is my love of Ball jars and all of their glorious versatility. This quarterly definitely helps me to reminisce and plan my future gardens and near-future potted plant varieties!

Out of this issue I am especially looking forward to trying out Yuka Yamamoto’s recipe for Mixed Pickled Vegetables and Nathalie Weisner’s Pear Syrup. As the weather warms and the ground softens, I am more than ever eager to find a place to grow some herbs and tomatoes since I’m still living in an apartment. For the time being, I suppose I’ll have to manage with the CSA and challenge myself to learn more recipes and incorporate even more veggies in to my diet.

If you share my interest in gardening and/or food, you should definitely check out this beautiful quarterly. The pictures and tips are excellent and the content is fascinating! To order a single issue or a one-year subscription, check out the website here.

My father gave me a gift subscription to Bon Appetit and I’ve been loving it! The February 2012 issue was all about southern food and it got me thinking about how little I’ve learned about southern cuisine over the past 5 years. I wouldn’t go so far as to say chicken and dumplings is a southern recipe, but dumplings, like biscuits, tend to make me think of southern cooking.

To that end, I decided it would be a good idea to try out the Chicken and Dumplings recipe that appeared in this issue of Bon Appetit. Let me start by saying it is delicious. Let me follow that by saying it is super easy! The dumplings are a ricotta-based gnocchi and are packed full of taste but remain really light. Just dump the ingredients in a bowl, mix and chill. Nutmeg makes it such an interesting flavor. The chicken and gravy portion of the recipe is equally easy. Cook the chicken in the chicken broth, remove, make a roux of butter and flour, whisk it in to the broth, add the chopped vegetables, shred the meat and add it back to the pot. Viola a hearty, flavorful, healthy dinner!

Two of my dear friends from college came over to help me eat the large pot of this, and their were claims that this was the best meal they’d had in a long time. It doesn’t get better than easy to make, extremely delicious, and healthy too!

You can find the recipe on the Bon Appetit site, here. I made this again within the week and so far everyone who’s tried it has asked for the recipe. Now, I’ll just refer them here. I do hope you enjoy this though; it’s perfect for both a cold wintery night and a pleasant summer evening. This recipe is going down as one of my fall backs for many many years to come.

Yats is my favorite restaurant, hands down. Yats specializes in Cajun-Creole food, and has been my go-to place for a quick bite to eat in Indianapolis for almost a decade now. For people located in and around Indianapolis, Yats is probably a staple in your diet, but for me it is food that I crave weekly and only get to eat once or twice a year. When I visit Indy, I try to go as many times as possible, often buying the stuff by the quart to freeze and bring home with me! Fortunately for my waistline and wallet, the food is even healthy and super affordable! For those of you with picky eaters in the family, they also offer rice with cheese and/or beans for children…I’m sure adults could get it too if they really won’t branch out.

If you’re not familiar with “Cajun-Creole” food, think spicy (not necessarily hot-spicy, but lots of spices) sauce + beans + veggies and/or meat. This is not just any beans and rice joint though, the food is out of this world. The menu even has a vegetarian section and regularly features my favorite dish of all, the B ‘n’ B. I cannot tell you with any certainty where the name for this dish came from, but it is a perfect balance of spiciness and sweetness with black beans, big chunks of tomato, and lots of yellow sweet corn in a divine sauce. They also have an incredible Succotash and, for mushroom fans out there, they have a killer Spinach and Mushroom Etouffee, and several surprising and tasty versions of chili. I’m so in love with the B ‘n’ B that if it’s on the menu I order it without even looking at the rest of the menu, but this was a haven of my high school years and even now walking in there I almost always run in to a familiar face.

B&B

                    Maque Choux

My reasons for Yats run even beyond the stupendous food because the walls are bright yellow, the menu is on a chalkboard and there is art, clutter, and Mardi Gras party favors all over the place. Just walking in the door makes my day instantly better. Writing this just before having a blasé dinner of tortelini and steamed broccoli is, retrospectively a bad idea, but for those of you close enough to go grab some, enjoy it for me!

First, wine is a must. However, there is an on-going debate about whether you should use red or white. I do not suggest sitting on the fence for this one, decide and move on. I however, decided that I really wanted the red coloring offered by the red wine, but not the flavor, so instead I used Relax, a Riesling (it’s amazing and sweet!) and some red sparkling grape juice. I would suggest trying out a few whites before deciding on what to use, especially if you are going to add sparkling grape juice to the mix. Seriously, taste the combination first. On a slightly different topic, if you go with just a white wine, throwing in some dried cranberries and/or cherries a couple minutes before the syrup is finished reducing is a colorful, tasty touch; they will re-hydrate a little and add nice texture to the dish too. I suppose you could add these to the red wine/grape juice version of this dish too, but they won’t be a visible addition to the dish.

Secondly, spices must be used. The spices used can be modified to your taste. Generally cinnamon and cloves are always used. You can also add nutmeg, allspice (go light though), and any of those other winter-y spices in small amounts.

Then, citrus juice and zest is always included. Believe me, you need it to cut the sweetness. I used orange juice and a larger grate on orange zest. The large pieces of orange zest ended up being candied and were a delicious extra texture in the syrup. I decided to served the pears with slices of lemon which ended up being quite refreshing to chew on while eating the desert.

Finally, the type of pears used must be considered. Once you’ve got everything else in order, you must decide what kind of pears to use and there are more choices than you might expect. I used the Bosc pears for this dish because a lot of recipes I researched said that Bartlett pears fall apart very rapidly. I cannot speak to that, but it was consistent enough that I would take it under advisement. Just make sure they are fairly firm and try to avoid soft spots wherever possible. Don’t fret though, you will be skinning them and cutting the bottoms off of the bears to that they will sit flat.

Ingredients

4 Poached Pears

1 bottle of wine/juice

1 c orange juice

1 c sugar or honey*

2-3 tbsp orange zest

1/2 -1tsp of cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 sticks cinnamon

*If you decide to use grape juice in any capacity, the amount of sugar should be drastically reduced to compensate. Do not cut it out entirely, but definitely reduce it by half or so. Don’t worry though, it definitely will still be really sweet either way.

Now that you’ve chosen your pears, spices, wine, and citrus, it’s time to get cooking. Skin the pears using a small pairing knife leaving as much of the fruit in tact as possible. Do, however, remove any especially bruised spots because these will disintegrate during the poaching process.

Once everything is prepped, pour the wine and/or grape juice in to a pot that is just large enough in diameter to hold all four pears and deep enough to submerge the pears in liquid completely. If you don’t have a pot that meets these requirements, it is possible to use a wider, pot that is not as deep and lay the pears on their sides, rotating frequently. Then add the sugar (adjusted if using grape juice) and bring the mixture to a boil. Be patient though, and try to avoid it frothing.

Then add the orange/lemon juice, orange/lemon zest, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg or any other winter-y spices you wish to use. Keep stirring for 10 minutes or so.

Add the pears so that they are as submerged as possible in the liquid. Remember, parts of the pears that are not submerged will not cook evenly, so orient the pears as needed to keep the cooking evenly distributed. Also, if using red wine/grape juice, definitely try to make sure the pears color evenly.

Keep the pot partially covered and rotate the pears frequently if necessary. Continue cooking for approximately 45 minutes. To test if the pears are done, a butter knife inserted gently to the thickest part should meet minimal resistance. The pears will not always finish at the same time, so remove them as they finish until all have finished and then add the finished pears back to the syrup to rewarm them before serving. Then place in bowls (or plates depending on the amount of syrup and ice cream you want to serve them with), spoon syrup over them, garnish with lemons if desired (I highly recommend it!) and then spoon some vanilla ice cream, creme fraiche, or vanilla yogurt in to the bowl. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 box of shell pasta

Cheese – a mix of Ricotta, Mozzarella, and Parmasean

Spinach – 1 package of frozen chopped spinach

1/2 onion diced*

2 tsp minced garlic (left overs from the Garlic Knots are perfect)

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

3 c tomato based sauce (Marinara or meat sauce works well)

*If you are not a fan of firm onions, you can sauté them lightly before adding them to the mixture.

 

 
Bring a pot of water to a boil, and add the shell pasta. Cook according to directions and drain. Set aside, but make sure that they do not stick together.

The mixture that you stuff the shells with can vary greatly depending on which cheeses you prefer. If you do not like ricotta, this is my recommended ratio: 1 cup or so of Ricotta , 2.5 c Mozzarella, and 1 c Parmesan. The small amount of Ricotta will not flavor the dish, but will help combine everything. You can also use mostly Ricotta, and if you want a cheaper option, you can use cottage cheese. Yes, I said cottage cheese; it sounds horrible, but it’s not bad, just add some Mozzarella.

Open the package of frozen spinach and thaw. Add the spinach to the cheese mixture. Then add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix until combined.

While the shells are cooling slightly, grease a 9×13 pan. Hold a shell in your non-dominant hand and fill with a spoonful of the cheese and spinach mixture. You should be able to fit three rows of about 12-15 shells each. They don’t need to be packed too tightly, but it should be a fairly smug fit. Once the shells are filled, pour the tomato sauce across the top of each row. Sprinkle more Mozzarella cheese over the top.

Cook the shells for 15-30 minutes at 350°F. Once the cheese on top has started to brown and the tomato sauce begins to bubble, they’re finished. Let sit for 3-5 minutes before serving.

One of my friends informed me that he was traumatized by Ricotta-only stuffed shells when he was growing up, but he said “I’d order those in a restaurant if they all tasted like that!” This really is a surprisingly fun and really easy meal that serves a crowd!

Dough

3.5 c white flour + extra for dusting

1.5 tsp salt

1.5 – 2 tbsp yeast or 1/2 cake compressed yeast crumbled

1.25 c warm tap water

2 tbsp butter

Topping

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (a drizzle)

6-9 large garlic cloves

1 tsp salt

1 egg

To make the dough, mix the flour and salt in  a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl (I just use the liquid measuring cup), mix the yeast in to the warm water using a whisk. Pour the water and yeast mixture in to the bowl with the flour and salt. Mix using a wooden spoon until it starts to come together and them use your hands to work in the remaining flour. For those of you who do not make bread very often, be prepared to add extra flour or water depending on the humidity of the day and climate. In South Carolina, I often need to add more flour, but with this batch of the rolls I needed to add more water. Just be flexible, and remember that if you add too much of the water, you can balance it by adding additional flour a little at a time until it’s back on track; too much flour and you can add additional water a little at a time as well.

Once all of the flour has been worked in, dump the dough out on to a floured counter top. Don’t sprinkle too much flour though, a thin dusting will suffice; the goal is just to keep the dough from sticking to the counter. Knead the dough until it is smooth and fairly elastic. This can take several minutes, so turn up the music a bit and keep at it. Once you’ve finished kneading the dough, grease a large mixing bowl and place the dough in it. Cover with a damp kitchen towel, or greased plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm place and let it rise until it has doubled in size; this normally takes a couple hours. If your house tends to be a bit chilly, you can turn the oven on to 200º F and place the bowl next to the stove top (though do not place it on top of the stove as the bottom of the dough ball will start to cook). If you are using the oven as a source of warmth, turn the bowl frequently during the rising time and check it often. Also, make sure that if you are using a towel that it remains damp the whole time.

There are two ways to make the garlic topping: version one is a very strong toasted garlic, and version 2 is a milder, roasted garlic. Really consider the audience when deciding between the two.

Toasted Garlic: This method is the faster of the two and provides a stronger flavor for the true garlic lovers (like my boyfriend). Peel the garlic cloves and throw them in to a small food processor if you have one, or dice the garlic by hand. If you’re using a food processor, drizzle some olive oil into the food processor and sprinkle a pinch of salt (is using measurements, see the “toppings” ingredient list above). Then pulse until the garlic is in fairly uniform, small pieces. If mincing the garlic by hand, finely dice the cloves and in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt; mix until combined.

Roasted Garlic: This method is, arguably, the more sophisticated of the two, but takes a little longer to prepare. To do this, cut the tops off of a bulb of garlic and place upright on a baking sheet. Move the rack to upper-middle (though, be careful if the oven is already on for warming the dough!) and roast the garlic until the papery skin is yellowed and beginning to brown. The actual cloves should be soft and almost mushy when they are finished roasting. Squeeze the roasted garlic in to a bowl, add the oil and a pinch of salt and mix until combined.

Once the topping has been prepared, dust the counter with flour again and dump the now very fluffy ball of dough on to it. Using a knife, divide the dough in to twelve equal parts. I normally cut it in half and then each half in to thirds, and then each third in half, but remember that the dough needs to remain fairly moist, so only make a few cuts at a time and work quickly. Roll each piece in to a thin strip about 8-10 inches long. At this point you can either: a) spread the garlic topping the length of the dough now and then tie the strip into a knot, or you can tie the knot and add the garlic topping to the top of the knots only.  Either way is delicious. To tie the knot, it is the first part of tying shoes: make a loop with the ends dangling, tuck one end through the loop, and tighten.

Once all twelve knots are made and the garlic has been added, place them on lightly greased cooking sheets  (about six per sheet, with plenty of space between them) and cover them with damp tea kitchen towels. Let them rise while the oven heats up to 400°F. Once the oven is preheated, remove the towels and whisk an egg with a splash of water to create an egg wash. Brush the egg wash lightly over the knots and then place both trays of garlic knots in to the oven. Let them cook for approximately ten minutes, but keep an eye on them to make sure that the timing is adjusted appropriately for your oven.

Once you take them out of the oven, let them cool on wire racks and then serve or place them in plastic bags. They will store well for about two days, but I doubt they will last that long!

One a side note, the atmosphere of Tsunami is pretty cool. I am a big fan of using bold colors on walls and decorating with art that ads motion to the room. The picture to the right is kind of dark, but from what I could tell it was pieces of wood painted the same dark red of the wall over a semi-opaque white background that was back lit to create shadows and emphasis. Either way, I was really impressed with it, especially with the blue-ish lights hung in contrast to them.

Having seen a variety of the foods on the menu during my first visit, this time I knew better than to order two rolls of sushi. This time I wised up and ordered the Fired Cheese and Spinach roles as an appetizer and the Teriyaki Chicken Hibachi grill as my main course. Normally I don’t order meat at restaurants if I can help it, especially if it is covered in sauce because I have a sneaking suspicion that the meat is pretty low quality in such dishes. My boyfriend vouched for the quality of the meat, however, so my concern diminished slightly and I decided to order it anyway.

So we started with very light, bust still satisfyingly greasy fried cheese and spinach rolls. Rather than being breaded, they were wrapped in wonton wrappers, and they are the best cheese sticks I’ve ever had. The spinach makes them an even less-guilty guilty pleasure. I would highly recommend splurging on this appetizer. Also, I bet I could replicate these at home since wonton wrappers are widely available at grocery stores in the produce section. I’ll go out on a limb here and say if you just steam some spinach (or even thaw some frozen spinach, I suppose) and place a thing layer of it in with the mozzarella cheese, roll them up, cover with an egg wash or just oil (I’ll have to try both and see what works) and bake at a high temperature for a few minutes on each side, you’d probably have a pretty tasty and fairly healthy version of this delectable treat. Check back soon for a full post on an attempt at this make-at-home recipe.

The Hibachi Grill came with the option of miso soup or a salad. I opted for the soup since my throat is getting a little scratchy as the weather begins to turn colder. It was too salty for my taste, but then again, so is most miso soup. I did however, enjoy the big pieces of nori (seaweed) onion, and tofu.

Normally when you go to an American hibachi grill, you get to watch them prepare the food in front of you. This is not one of those places, but the amount of food served on the plate is impressive and delicious! Also, the service is quite prompt, even on a busy night which is rare in the Vista and greatly appreciated. I cannot say that the chicken was as good as I had hoped, but the teriyaki sauce was a perfect mix of sweet and savory and the vegetables were fantastic! I’m rather partial to zucchini and onions cooked in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper and the vegetables seemed to be precisely that. Amazing! It felt like a meal that transitioned perfectly between the warm and comfort of soups and heavy meats sought out during the winter and the dwindling tastes of summer squash. It was a meal that perfectly fit with the weather and it was quite a nice way to spend the evening.

I am definitely not big on drinking, but I do enjoy trying new drinks once in a while. Not too long ago, I was picking up a few groceries and found a whole shelf of this wine on sale (admittedly not the best sign when it comes to wines), and decided to buy a bottle. I am so decidedly not a wine connoisseur that I might even come off as ignorant here, but I was so impressed by the fruitiness and lightness of this Moscato that I had to share.

Bella Bolle’ Moscato D’Asti claims to have “vibrant flavors and aromas of stone fruit, tangerines, and honey,” and it definitely lives up to this. The honey is subtle, more a consistent sweetness than a specific honey flavor, but the tangerine/citrus flavor is surprising, refreshing, and delightful! Rather than a tangerine flavor though, I was more reminded of a sweetened grapefruit, one of my favorite fruits, and was really impressed by the vibrancy of the citrus. However, I’ve heard from others that they thought it tasted like a more sophisticated sparkling grape juice. Either way, what’s not to love?!

So, when you are preparing for holiday parties, in-laws, and/or are stressed out about all of the cooking you have yet to do, pick up a bottle of this. I’m always up for a break from dry reds!

NOTE: If you invite me to a dinner party, I will probably show up with a bottle of this. You might want to save it for later so you don’t have to share it. This wine is definitely that good.