chocolate zucchini muffins

 I've got a lot of zucchini this year (yay) and I like to bake up batches of muffins to then freeze.  Trying this with the zucchini in my fridge currently.

 INgredients

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup (141 grams) whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
• ⅓ cup (27 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled (or sub olive oil)
• ⅓ cup (111 grams) honey, agave nectar or pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (from about 1 medium zucchini)
• 1 ripe mashed banana (or you can use ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce)
• ½ cup (120 grams) unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• ½ cup (90 grams) regular or mini chocolate chips, dairy free if desired
•  

Preheat oven to 350.  Squeeze excess liquid out of zucchini.  

 

Mix dry ingredients together.  In another bowl, mix together oil, sweetener, vanilla, egg.  Mix well, then add in zucchini, banana or applesauce, and milk.  Mix until just combined, add chocolate chips.

 

Bake 22-25 minutes.  After five minutes resting in pan, move muffins to wire rack.   

 

blackberry crisp

 My blackberry bushes went a little crazy this year and I have gallons in my freezer to use up.  This recipe seemed a good option to try and it's in the oven now.  I plan to freeze and reheat portions of it.  Making a 1/2 batch in a smaller pan is also a good option. Verdict is, except for the lemon juice, this is good!

Ingredients:

• 7-8 cups blackberries (I used frozen, did not thaw, would probably be better thawed)
• 1 Tbsp sugar of some sort (date, ...)
• 1 Tbsp arrowoot, tapioca, or corn starch
• (lemon juice - recipe calls for 2 Tbsp but I found that WAY too much)

Combine above and put into a lightly greased 9x13 pan.  Heat oven to 350.

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup flour (almond or whatever is on hand)
• hemp hearts, etc. - I sprinkled some in
• 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (to taste)
• 1/4 oil or melted butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla 

Mix together (by hand) and put on top of berries.

Bake 35-45 minutes. Let cool at least 15 minutes.  

 

 

zucchini "pie"

 This isn't really a pie but it's still tasty and a good way to use up zucchini.  When I first ate it I wasn't sold, but by the next day I was really glad I'd made it for leftovers for the week, to eat with a salad. 

Definitely worth making again.  

Ingredients 

• 3 cups zucchini, shredded
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
• 1/4 cup butter, melted (recipe called for 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup shredded white Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 

Instructions  

Salt and drain zucchini if desired. Squeeze to remove excess moisture.

Combine all ingredients, put into oiled pie pan.  

350 degrees 45 minutes 

"Louisiana style hot pepper sauce"

I learned how to make this "Louisiana style hot pepper sauce today" and it is soooo tasty.  Starting a batch now.  Note that you either want to use all green peppers or all any other color.  Mixing red and yellow and orange is pretty, but when you add green to that it turns a brown that's not so appetizing.  

• 1 pound fresh peppers, cleaned and stems removed (weighed after destemming) 
• 4 cloves garlic (20 g)
• 1 tsp salt (6 g)
• 1 cup white vinegar 

Start water bath and heat jars.   

Roast peppers on a sheet pan with the garlic at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  (Note: easier to leave skins on garlic until after roasting, then remove.)  Peppers should be wilted and just starting to char.  Cool and peel garlic.

Puree peppers and garlic with vinegar.  Run in batches for longer than you think necessary (8 minutes in a regular blender, less in a Vitamix.)  Should be smooth except for seeds. 

Put in pan, add salt, and bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.   Ladle into hot jars with 1/2" headspace and water bath process for 20 minutes.  

The person who taught me this grew 260 varieties of peppers last year and brought many of them for us to taste.  What I learned is that I really like the flavor of scotch bonnets and can take the heat, but a very hot habanero is unpleasant and I will drink a lot of milk to recover. 

This sauce is great with chips and probably with lots of other things.  

If picking throughout the season, pick & destem the peppers, weigh them and mark that, then roast them, and then they can be frozen.   

 

Russian potato salad

 I ate versions of this salad often when I was in Russia, and I have had a fierce craving for it lately.  It's mostly potatoes, with hardboiled eggs, carrots, pickles, and mayo.  Add in aromatics and meat if desired (ham is common). 

Ingredients

• 5 medium-large waxy potatoes (such as yukon gold)
• 3 carrots 
• 4 eggs
• peas - a can or thawed frozen 
• shallot or green onion or onion, finely diced 
• (celery if desired, cucumber, etc.) 
• ham or other meat (optional); I'll use some chicken sausage  
• pickles, 4-8 depending on size - lacto-fermented are best  
• mayonnaise (don't skimp); can substitute some of this out for yogurt or sour cream
• salt and pepper (check salt before adding, depending on pickles) 

Directions

Clean (and peel if desired) potatoes and carrots.* OR some say to let boil intact and then peel after.  Boil large pot of water, add potatoes for 10 minutes, then add eggs and carrots and boil another 10 minutes.  REmove eggs and vegetables and let cool.  

Dice potatoes and carrots.  Peel and dice hardboiled eggs and meat and pickles and any optionals. Mince onion and any herbs desired (such as dill). 

Stir everything together with mayo. 

 

*Note: some say to peel and chop first, others say to keep peels on and boil whole, others say to chill after boiling to make it easier to process them.  

whole wheat pitas

NOTE: these weren't good.  I'll try something else.   

Since Trader Joe's stopped carrying the good whole wheat pitas (and replaced them with sugar-added, undercooked, higher calories, weird overly soft texture yuckness), I'm going to start making my own.  They are just so great for breakfast especially - a good fiber boost to the day, which I usually fill (or fold over, actually) with tuna or lentils.  

Here's the recipe I'm trying today.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm (105-115) water
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2-1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp olive oil 
• 1-1.5 tsp salt  
• 2 cup whole wheat flour + more as necessary

Activate yeast in water with sugar, let foam for 5-10 minutes.

Add other ingredients, stir in.  Knead lightly, add more flour as necessary.

Set aside covered for 2 hours.

Divide into 9 balls.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees with pan(s) in oven.  Roll balls out 1/2" thick, 3-4" wide.  

Bake on preheated pan for 12 minutes, flipping once halfway.   

 

zucchini taco lasagna

Here's what I plan to do with this Mexican-style zucchini taco lasagna, based on ideas from numerous places.

Ingredients

•  zucchini (3-4 depending on size, if smaller-medium)
• meat and beans (I'm using 1/2# of ground turkey and 1 can of black beans, drained (rinsed if commercially canned) - NOTE: I like the texture of ground meat in this, but I think I can do that with tofu (break it up small and bake it, then heavily season it).  
• onion
• peppers (using up some poblanos; canned chili peppers would be nice)
• garlic  
• corn (using about 1 cup of frozen corn, thawed; could be replaced with other vegetables) 
• salsa (using a pint of salsa - could also be partially replaced with some tomato sauce 
• ricotta cheese (15 oz container) - NOTE: I did not care for this.  I may replace with cottage cheese next time. 
• seasoning: taco seasoning and/or cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, pepper, salt, onion powder and garlic powder if preferred 
• 2 cups pepper jack cheese (8 oz) 
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped (which of course I forgot ...)

Instructions

Thinly slice the zucchini length wise.  If very wet, salt and let sit half an hour and then drain and dry off.  Otherwise, just put it on a pan and roast for about 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Set aside.

Cook meat, add onions and peppers and cook until soft.  Add garlic for a couple of minutes, and then beans and other vegetables such as corn to heat up. 

Combine ricotta and egg and some pepper in a separate bowl.

Start layering the pan: 

• a layer of salsa/tomato sauce
•  layer of zucchini
• layer of half the ricotta mixture
•  half the meat/bean mixture
•  1/3 of cheese
• zucchini
• ricotta
• meat
• cheese
• zucchini
• salsa 
• cheese  

Cover with foil.  Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.  Remove foil, bake another 10 minutes.