Kale and Hearts of Palm Greek Yogurt Quiche (with vegan options)

2 bunches kale, trimmed and chopped
1/2 zucchini, shredded*
4 cloves garlic
1.5 cups hearts of palm, chopped finely
1 leek, chopped finely*
1 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 cups plain Greek yogurt OR soy yogurt
2 Tbsp capers*
3 eggs OR 1/3 cup hummus
1 Tbsp fresh oregano
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast*
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp smoked paprika*
1 Tbsp pine nuts*

* optional ingredients

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, leek, zucchini and kale and stir for a few minutes. Add some water, cover and cook for 3 more minutes, or until the kale is dark green.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs/hummus and yogurt together. Mix in the salt, pepper, paprika and nutritional yeast. Spray a casserole dish well.

Mix the kale mixture with oregano,  pine nuts, hearts of palm and capers. Pour the yogurt mixture over the vegetables, and stir well. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serves 8.

Mexican Zucchini Soup

Unbelievably simple and tasty.

1 zucchini, sliced
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes with chilies, with juice
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 package soyrizo
1-1/2 cups frozen or fresh corn
1/2 tsp salt

Combine in a soup pot. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender. Serve with crushed corn chips mixed in, if desired.

Zucchini Patties w/ Tomato-Corn Relish (Redux)

Last night, I used up two zucchini, a handful of baby onions and a crapload of tomatoes with the Zucchini Patties w/ Tomato-Corn Relish. I ended up adding an egg white (from the lovely free-range chickens at Blue Gate Farm) to the patties to help them stay together. Delish.

Open-Faced BLTs w/ Chipotle Remoulade + Zucchini Patties with Corn Relish

The chipotle remoulade in this was divine. It also made a good dipping sauce for sweet potato fries, which we had alongside this dish.



several slices sourdough bread, toasted
leftover zucchini patties (optional, recipe below)
several slices tempeh bacon, cooked to a crisp
1 heirloom tomato, thickly sliced
chipotle remoulade (recipe below)

Assemble in listed order and serve while the bacon is still hot.

Chipotle Remoulade
2/3 cup vegan mayo
2 tablespoons capers, with brine
1/2 chipotle chili in adobo
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 tsp sweet chili sauce

Blend with a stick blender until smooth.

Zucchini Patties
1 medium zucchini, grated
1/2 cup refried beans (or hummus)
1/4 tsp cumin & chili powder
1/2 cup corn kernels
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup masa harina (corn flour), as needed
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil for frying

Mix the grated zucchini, beans, spices, corn & garlic together. Add the masa harina until the mixture can be formed into patties. Fry in the olive oil over medium heat, 3-4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Top with corn relish:

Corn Relish
2 cups frozen corn kernels
2 Tbsp lime juice
4 Tbsp chipotle salsa
1 Tbsp garlic jelly (optional, but very tasty)

Heat all ingredients until hot and steamy.

Mexican Zucchini Soup

1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, diced
1 potato, diced
1 ear of corn, kernels cut off
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 bottle of beer
1 veg bouillon cube
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder

Saute the garlic in the olive oil for 2 minutes, then add everything else and simmer for 20 minutes.

Zucchini Enchiladas

1 small zucchini, grated
1-2 cups frozen hash browns (or grated potato)
1/2 small onion, diced
diced bell or hot pepper to taste
salt & pepper to taste
1/3 cup Northern Prairie Chevre Summertime Salsa goat cheese (OR hummus)
1 hefty glug olive oil

flour tortillas
1 cup enchilada sauce

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Combine the grated zucchini, potatoes, cheese/hummus and onion in a bowl. Season to taste with salt, pepper and olive oil.

Dip the flour tortillas in enchilada sauce to coat. Put a little filling in each tortilla and roll it up. Place the rolled tortillas in an oiled glass baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, covered. (If desired, you could also top these with grated cheese.) Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.

These can be frozen for quite a while, too.

Super Amazing Enchilada Adventure!

My good friend Kelli posted an amazingly easy enchilada recipe on YouTube, and I decided to give it a try the other day. I've veganized her recipe and, since I didn't have time to make the chile sauce, I used some store-bought substitutes. But these turned out amazing -- the best enchiladas I've ever attempted!



I used:
Cascadian Farm frozen hash browns
1/2 zucchini, shredded
1 small green pepper, diced
1 tsp onion powder
Galaxy Foods monterey jack/cheddar 'cheeze' shreds
1 can Old El Paso enchilada sauce + 2 tsp adobo sauce

After rolling the enchiladas, I baked them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. They came out nice and crispy on the top and melty and gooey inside... delicious! I topped mine with a quick fresh salsa made with chopped cherry tomatoes, lime juice, minced garlic, salt and cilantro. We happily ate the leftovers for days afterwards.

Thank you, Kelli, for making our bellies so happy!

Roasted Summer Vegetables

Tonight was a very Naked Chef kind of night. Chop up some veggies and tofu, throw on a little marinade and loads of fresh herbs, then roast. No real recipe, but it turned out beautifully.

1 block extra-firm tofu, cubed
1 medium eggplant, cubed
15-20 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 yellow or zucchini squash, cubed
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
Italian dressing
olive oil
salt & pepper
fresh herbs (I used basil, thyme and oregano), torn into bits

If you have time, marinate the tofu in the Italian dressing (overnight is best, but 10-20 minutes will do, too). Preheat the oven to 400. Toss all the veggies and tofu together in a 9x13 pan, then coat with dressing, a swig of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and the herbs. Cover with foil and roast for 30-40 minutes. Serve with extra fresh herbs, or over polenta.

Zucchini Patties w/ Tomato-Corn Relish

The perfect way to use up zucchini, tomatoes and corn -- all of which are in great abundance at our farmer's market lately. If you have someone else help chop, this comes together in no time. The sweet cool crunchiness of the corn contrasts beautifully with the crispy savory patties.

2 cups grated zucchini
1 small onion, minced
1/2 cup masa harina OR cornmeal
4 Tbsp hummus
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch cayenne pepper
canola oil for frying

2 ears sweet corn, kernels cut off
2 small or 1 large heirloom tomato, diced
1/2 lime, juiced
sprinkle of salt

Mix the grated zucchini, minced onion, masa harina, hummus, chile powder, cumin and cayenne in a bowl. Mix with a spoon or your hands until the mixture can be easily formed into patties. (You may need to add more masa harina or hummus, depending on how moist your zucchini is.)

Heat a layer of oil over medium heat in the bottom of a cast iron pot. Take 1/4 cup of the zucchini mixture, flatten into a patty and slide into the oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until browned and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Meanwhile, mix the corn kernels and diced tomato in a large bowl. Add lime juice and salt to taste.

Serve the patties hot, topped with the tomato-corn mixture.

Zucchini White Bean Pesto Strata

This is adapted from Robin Robertson's Quick Fix Vegetarian, which is overdue at the library, but I just can't bear to part with it.

2 medium-sized zucchini, sliced very thin

1 can whole tomatoes, drained, juice reserved

1 can white beans, drained

1/2 cup pesto

1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)

3 slices bread, toasted and cubed

a little olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Oil a cast iron pot or baking dish.  Mix the beans with the pesto and 1/4 cup juice from the tomatoes.

Layer one-half of the zucchini slices in the dish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Top with half of the pine nuts, followed by half of the bean mixture.  Smoosh half of the tomatoes and lay them on top of the beans.  Repeat.  Spread the bread cubes on top and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the zucchini are totally cooked through.  Alternatively, you can put the lid on your cast-iron pot and simmer on the stove until done.  Just depends on how much you want to heat up the kitchen.

Zucchini Chai Bread

A moist, spicy, decadent way to use up zucchini.  I think this recipe works best with smaller loaves or muffins.  

2 cups grated zucchini, packed

3/4 small container vanilla soy yogurt

2/3 cup soy chai

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 to 1-1/3 cup sugar

3 cups flour (unbleached white, spelt or whole wheat pastry)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup walnuts, crushed (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Oil two loaf pans or several smaller pans.  Combine the zucchini, soy yogurt, chai, oil, vanilla extract and sugar in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.  Add the dry to the wet gradually, stirring just until combined.  Fold in the nuts, if using.

Pour the batter into prepared pans and put in the oven.  If making larger loaves, bake 40-60 minutes.  For smaller loaves or muffins, 15-20 minutes should be sufficient.

Mexican Zucchini Patties

2-3 small zucchini, grated

1/4 cup hummus

1/2-1 cup masa harina (depending on the moisture of your zucchini)

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chile powder

1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)

2 tsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp olive oil

salsa

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for 15 minutes or so.  Using your hands, form patties.  Heat the oil over medium heat and fry the patties for a few minutes on each side, or until golden-brown.  Serve with salsa!

Portakopita (Mushroom-Pine Nut-Phyllo Strata)

A few weeks ago I bought a box of whole wheat phyllo dough on sale from the local health food store (New City Market). The clerk asked me what I would be making with it when I checked out -- I told him I honestly had no idea. But glimpsing it in the freezer this week sparked an idea... spanakopita minus the spinach (and cheese, of course). I've tried replacing the cheese with tofu before, but spinach and tofu alone don't quite stand up to my memories of decadence. So this time I went for portobello mushrooms, garlic and pine nuts, drizzled with a generous amount of olive oil... earthy, rich flavors that turned out miraculously.

2 portobello mushroom caps, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 hefty sprinkle each salt & pepper
a few dashes chipotle-flavored Tobasco (optional, lends a smoky hint)
1-2 Tbsps olive oil, plus more for brushing
2 handfuls pine nuts
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
6 sheets whole wheat phyllo dough, defrosted

Combine the mushrooms, garlic & olive oil in a skillet and cook on medium heat until the mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, spread the pine nuts in the bottom of a dry saucepan and heat on medium, stirring frequently, until just browned (be careful not to let them burn!). Season the mushrooms with the salt, pepper and Tobasco. Slice the phyllo sheets in half lengthwise.

Spread half the mushroom mixture in the bottom of a Pyrex dish. Top with half of the nutritional yeast. Place a phyllo sheet on top, brush with olive oil and repeat until you have used 6 of the half-sheets. Top with the remaining mushroom mixture & yeast, then with another stack of oiled phyllo sheets.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the top layers of phyllo are golden and puffed up.

Ingredient Notes: I sometimes find it easier to use a spray can of olive oil/baking spray than to brush each sheet with olive oil. I also use a relatively small pan, so I'll take 3 phyllo sheets for each layer and fold them in half, which saves time. In a pinch, I've also used frozen puff pastry, but it doesn't have quite the dramatic crunch that phyllo dough does. This time around, I used the cooking juices from a batch of Baked Tomato & Zucchini in place of plain olive oil for brushing.

Non-Evil Burritos

We're having Baked Tomatoes & Zucchini again tonight, so no new recipe. But I thought I'd share my results with Monday's work taco bar. I managed to resist the cheese and sour cream and brownies with this concoction (which I'm planning on having for lunch tomorrow):

2-3 Tbsp Lentil Taco Filling (this was delicious!)
1 Tbsp Tex-Mex black beans
1 Tbsp Mexi-Spiced Zucchini
2 tsp guacamole
a scattering each of sliced black olives & chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp chipotle salsa

Wrap all ingredients in a spinach-flavored tortilla and tuck in! (My mouth is watering just thinking about it.)

Zucchini-Eggplant Lasagna

I found this recipe on the 'Nutrition & Good Eating' thread on the Mothering.com forums. I was skeptical about the fake cheese; however, the finished product tasted amazingly rich and decadent. The trick here is to slice the eggplant really thin.

2 cups spaghetti sauce (I used a jar of mushroom-and-olive flavor)
oven-ready lasagna noodles
1 medium or 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
10 ounce block vegan mozzarella cheese, grated (or low-fat 'normal' mozzarella)
1/3-1/2 eggplant, really thinly sliced
Several heaping spoonfuls tofu ricotta (or low-fat 'normal' ricotta)
garlic powder
nutritional yeast (optional)

Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Lay a few noodles on top. Layer zucchini slices on top of the noodles. Sprinkle the zucchini with garlic powder and nutritional yeast and cover with sauce. More noodles. More sauce. 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. Eggplant slices, sprinkled with garlic and nutritional yeast and covered with tofu ricotta. More noodles. More zucchini slices, sprinkled. More sauce. Top with the remaining mozzarella.

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Ingredient Notes: I used Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternative brand mozzarella cheese, which is available at New City Market. The nutritional yeast is optional... it adds a 'cheesy' taste and provides vitamin B12, which can be hard to get in vegan diets. Make sure to slice the eggplant really thin!

Baked Tomatoes & Zucchini

I believe this recipe originally came from Digs Magazine. It's a staple around here, particularly in the summer-time, when we can get fresh zucchini and tomatoes from the farmer's market.

2-3 tomatoes, sliced thickly
1-2 zucchini, sliced not quite as thickly
garlic, sliced thinly
fresh or dried dill weed
salt
pepper
olive oil

Spread a little olive oil on the bottom of a baking dish. Layer the zucchini slices in the pan, and top with garlic slices, dill, salt, pepper and olive oil. Repeat with a layer of tomatoes, alternating layers until you've run out of ingredients. Bake at 400 degrees for an hour, or until the zucchini is tender.