Crispy Zucchini Coins & Baked Corn Casserole~ 5.29.10

This weekend marks the beginning of the SUMMER! I've been a bit heavy on desserts over here, lately, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite little HEALTHY zucchini recipes. It's light and healthy and very yummy!

And if you're headed to a picnic anytime soon, you may very well like the second recipe for Baked Corn Casserole. Another easy peasy one that my children love and works great as a side dish for all things grilled. We especially like it with hot dogs and hamburgers. Last week, I served it alongside tacos! Give it a try and let me know what YOU think!

Crispy Zucchini Coins

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs- I have used homemade crumbs that I keep in the freezer and added italian seasoning to that and a pinch or so of salt
3 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp pepper
3 c thinly sliced zucchini- honestly, I NEVER measure this. I buy a couple and use 'em. One zucchini goes a LONG way when you're thinly slicing it.
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.COmbine first 3 ingredients; stir well.
Dip sliced zucchini in egg whites and dredge in bread crumb mixture.
Place in single layer on baking sheet coated with cooking spray (last time I made these on a pizza stone- PERFECTION!)
Bake at 450 for 15 minutes on one side and additional 15 minutes on the other. You want them crispy and browned.

This is a Costain classic and I believe I got it from Cooking Light years ago- not sure who to give credit to!

Next up, we have baked corn casserole. I'm sure everyone has seen/eaten some version of this over the years. This is my favorite!

Baked Corn Casserole
serves 4-6;
takes about 1 hour 15 min with prep and cooking
(I always forget that part, so I'm writing it in here so I will remember!!!)

1 8 1/2 oz pkg corn muffin mix
1 can- whole kernel corn; drained- I've never done this, always just used frozen, about 1/2-3/4 of a cup (acutally, I use the can from the creamed corn to scoop it and measure it- I'm so EXACT- LOL)
1 can cream style corn
1 cup sour cream- I chooes light
1/4 cup butter, softened- I melt it.
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients- mix well and pour into a greased 8x8 or 9x9 (2 qt) casserole dish.
COVER and bake 30 minutes.
UNCOVER and bake 30 minutes or until set and golden

this came to be by way of my "imaginary friends"- started making it on Labor Day 2002!

I love Basil ~ 2.3.10

My favorite scent, flavor and herb is BASIL! And seeing this photo reminds me that spring is not too far away and that in the not so distant future, I'll have pots of beautiful basil blooming all around my deck!

Here's a tried and true recipe from my files that uses basil in a muffin! I'm including a lightened up version that I've yet to try- so if you do, before me, post a comment with your review. These muffins are great made MINI- perfect for afternoon tea.

Zucchini and Basil Muffins

Makes about 22 muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup veg. oil
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. freshly gr. pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup grated unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind

Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin pans lightly.

Combine oil and sugar in a mixing bowl; beat well. Add the eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and nutmeg together. Add to the sugar mixture; stir just until moistened.

Fold in zucchini, basil and lemon rind.

Spoon into muffin tins, filling each cup 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 for 25 to 35 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 min.; remove the muffins to wire racks to cool completely.

-Recipe from Art in the Kitchen;Westmoreland museum of Art; submitted by Carol Vallozzi



However, if you're trying to watch your waistline and using a FULL CUP OF OIL is making your eyes cross a bit, here's a lightened version from a friend on the cooking light bulletin board. you can check out here reviews of the lightened version by clicking on the link.




Modified Zucchini and Basil Muffins

Makes about 12 large muffins


1 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. freshly gr. pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 small grated unpeeled zucchini (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
grated rind of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin pans lightly.

Combine yogurt and sugar in a mixing bowl; beat well. Add the eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Sift flours, baking powder, salt, pepper, and nutmeg together. Add to the sugar mixture; stir just until moistened.

Fold in zucchini, basil and lemon rind.

Spoon into muffin tins, filling each cup 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 for 25 to 35 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 min.; remove the muffins to wire racks to cool completely.


originally appeared on She's a Crafty Pumpkin, 7.6.06

Farmer's Market Chili ~ 9.28.09

One of my favorite places to hunt down recipes has always been the newspaper. Funny though because I don't even subscribe! Yet, I know every Thursday, the food section will be in the Post Gazette and if I don't clip it from my parent's stash of papers (which they drop off to me so that I can recycle them at our school) then I can simply go online to find some inspiration.


This recipe appeared a several weeks back when zucchini were abundant and taking over everyone's garden. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to trying this recipe... zucchinis were non-existent at our farmer's market. Not even ONE zucchini was left to sell! I had to trek to the grocery store to buy mine, but it was well worth the price.

I've adapted this recipe that was submitted by Lori of McMurray, Pa and renamed it to make it more appealing to my very discriminating in-house critics (aka my children).

One of the ingredients to this Farmer's Market Chili -that I've only recently starting using in the past year or so -is this Adobo seasoning with pepper (I buy the red capped bottle).

It has appeared in at least a handful of my favorite recipes and I added it to this one as well. You'll be surprised how much you use it once you've tasted it! I promise to post my favorite Mushroom and Artichoke Pasta that incorporates this seasoning very soon- I've been craving it anyway.

You'll notice my chili sits atop a fluffy cloud of homemade mashed potatoes. I never ate chili any other way growing up and thought everyone else did the same, until I got married! The night I made this I offered the kids a choice of baked potatoes or mashed potatoes. They all chose baked! The best part was that 3 out of 4 of them gobbled this up and declared it "DELICIOUS!" I'll add this to the running list of "ways I got my kids to eat vegetables".

Farmer's Market Chili

2 Tbs canola/vegetable oil

2-3 onions, small, chopped

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Adobo seasoning with peppers, optional

1-2 Tbs chili powder- I used 1, but may go 1 1/2 next time

1/4 tsp dried basil- I opted for the frozen cubes of basil from Trader Joe's in my freezer

1/2 tsp cumin

2 cups zucchini, diced- I used a combo of summer squash and zucchini

3-4 carrots, peeled and diced

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes- I used crushed b/c that's what I had

1 15 oz can white beans- cannelini, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can water

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat and saute onion until soft and tender. Add carrots and saute until softened (I did not do this the first go of the recipe and it took the carrots FOREVER to tenderize- so I'll try this the next time). Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and let simmer 35 minutes. (I let my simmer much longer, as a good chili should) Taste and adjust the seasonings- I added more Adobo to mine.

If the chili is too thick for your preference, you can add a can of tomato sauce and a small amount of water towards the end of the cook time.

The original recipe says this yields 6 servings. I filled three yogurt quart containers!

Serve a la your favorite way to eat chili... mine is pictured up at the top!