I’ve been spending a few days in Salt Lake City seeing my new beautiful grand son. It has been such a joy to meander on out to the garden whenever a vegetable is needed. My son and his wife have a gorgeous, bountiful garden that I have had a blast with. I have picked fresh tomatoes and basil for caprese salad. Made garlic stir fry with fresh picked green beans, made a veggie pizza with fresh peppers, onions, sun gold tomatoes, basil and herbs and then slow-roasted some tomatoes just to snack on. Oh, it’s been fun. I wanted to include a recipe here and since everyone seems to have zucchini, here’s a great summer recipe–I’m making this today.
From a column I wrote recently for the Deseret News:
The French call it courgette, the Italians call it zucchino and Archaeologists say it has been around since 7,000 BCE. But whatever it’s story, it is an often overlooked nutritional powerhouse.
Zucchini is loaded with vitamin C, magnesium, beta-carotene, potassium and riboflavin, it is low in calories—about 13 to a half cup of raw—going up to only 18 in the same amount of cooked zucchini. It is high in fiber which helps to lower cholesterol. The vitamin folate found in summer squash are needed by the body to break down a dangerous disease promoting metabolic byproduct called homocysteine. Squashes have anti-cancer properties. Studies on their juices have been shown to prevent cell mutations (cancer-like changes.) Most of their nutrition is in the dark green skin so leave remember not to peal them.
There are so many ways to prepare them; sprinkle grated zucchini on top of your salad or throw a handful of it into your pancake mix at breakfast. It’s a great side dish for any meal when slow cooked in a pan with olive oil and caramelized onions. And when you really want an impressive side dish try this recipe from one of my most treasured possessions, my Mother’s cookbook. This is a win-win recipe, it incorporates several super foods-garlic, spinach and onions and tastes deliciously like summer. There’s more nutrition in this recipe than some folks get in days. I hope you enjoy it.
Baked Stuffed Zucchini
8 small to medium zucchini
2 medium onions
1 clove garlic
12 sprigs fresh parsley
3 T. olive oil
1 c. cooked and drained Swiss chard or spinach (about 10 oz.)
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 ½ tsp. salt
Fresh cracked pepper to taste (1/8 tsp or so)
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
3 eggs beaten (organic)
2/3 c. dry breadcrumbs
Cook zucchini in boiling water 3-4 minutes. Drain and cool. Cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out center pulp; discard seeds, reserve meat leaving ¼ “ shell all around.
Finely chop onions, garlic and parsley by hand or in a food processor
Sauté in oil.
Put zucchini pulp and chard (or spinach) through food chopper or in blender; drain off excess liquid. Add to onion mixture and sauté. Add seasonings and cheese; mix well. Add eggs and crumbs and blend.
Sprinkle zucchini shells lightly with salt. Fill with pulp mixture and sprinkle lightly with more breadcrumbs. Bake in slow oven, 325 degrees until golden-about an hour.
Can be made ahead and frozen. Thaw to room temp, cover and bake, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes.
Makes 6-8 servings
I hope your summer is full of super tasty super foods. I’ll see you soon.
Love and health,
Loa
