Vegetable Lime Chickpea Chili

My apologies for lack of posts this month. I'm having a hard time getting into a posting groove since the holidays have been over. If you have made anything amazing in the kitchen this month send me your recipes!

I adapted this recipe from the one over at Two Peas and Their Pod.

Ingredients:

• About 1 Tb. olive oil
• Heaping 3/4 c. chopped onion
• Heaping 3/4 c. chopped zucchini
• Heaping 3/4 c. chopped yellow squash
• 1/2 c. chopped sweet bell pepper (any color)
• 5 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Tb. garlic, minced
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 c. vegetable broth
• 1/4 c. cilantro
• 2 Tb. lime juice
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• about 1/4 tsp black pepper
• tortilla chips
• avocados

Directions:

1.  Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add onion, zucchini,  yellow squash, bell peppers, mushrooms and cook 5-8 minutes, till tender.
3. Add garlic and cook 1 more min.
4. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, broth, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer until ready to serve. Serve with tortilla chips and avocado slices.

Elaine McCardel's Zucchini Lasagna

(Picture from The Italian Dish)

This recipe was recommended by Megan T. She found it over at Elaine McCardel's blog,
The Italian Dish. I contacted Elaine to see if she would let me post it here, and she graciously consented. You should definitely check out her blog, especially if you'd like to see some pictures of each step in the recipe.  

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds large zucchini, scrubbed
• 1 quart spaghetti sauce or thick tomato sauce
• 1 cup bread crumbs *
• 1 pound ricotta cheese (more, if you like - the original recipe calls for 2 pounds)
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon each dried oregano, basil
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 1 pound mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated

Directions:

1. Slice zucchini into long slices.  Cook in boiling water just until limp, about 5 minutes.  Drain on paper towels.
2. Combine ricotta, eggs, parsley, seasoning and half of the parmesan cheese and half of the bread crumbs in a bowl.  Set aside.
3. In a 9x13 pan, spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce.  Sprinkle with a quarter of the bread crumbs.  Arrange layer of zucchini over this. Spoon half of the reserved ricotta mixture on top of the zucchini.  Sprinkle with half the mozzarella cheese.  Arrange the rest of the zucchini over this, layer more tomato sauce and the rest of the bread crumbs and top with remaining ricotta mixture.  Top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan.
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour or until top is brown.  Let stand 20 minutes before cutting.

* When using bread crumbs, try making your own. Take any kind of bread you like, even leftover stale bread that you may want to throw away, and place in your food processor and grind until fine. Keep in a plastic container in the fridge and they will last a long time. Fresh bread crumbs are superior to what you can buy in the grocery store.

Quinoa & Mushroom Stuffed Zucchini

 (Front zucchini has no parmesan, back one does.)

I adapted this recipe from The Kitchn.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cups water
• 2 zucchini, cut in half along their length
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium shallot, chopped
• 2 mushrooms, chopped
• Olive oil
• About 1/4 tsp dried and crushed sage 
• About 1/4 tsp dried and crushed rosemary
• About 1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
• Salt and pepper 
• 1/2 cup tofu ricotta
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Tofu ricotta ingredients:

• 1 pkg firm tofu, drained
• 1 Tbs. sugar (optional)
• 1/4 cup dairy free milk (I use rice milk)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Start by preparing your tofu ricotta. Put all the ingredients in a blender and puree until creamy. Then set aside. (Whatever you don't use can be put in the fridge.) 

Preheat oven to 350° F. 

Toast quinoa in a hot pan over medium heat for about five minutes, or until it smells nutty. Then cook according to package (basically, bring water and quinoa to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer until water is absorbed...about 15-20 minutes).

While the quinoa cooks, scrape out and reserve the insides of the zucchini, leaving about half an inch of flesh inside. Put the hollowed out zucchini on a cookie sheet in the oven for about 20 minutes or until softened and tender.

Chop or shred the zucchini innards. Mince the garlic, shallots, and mushrooms. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat with a little olive oil. Sauté the garlic and shallots until golden, then add zucchini innards and mushrooms, along with the herbs. Sauté, stirring often, until most of the zucchini's moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms are tender.

Fluff cooked quinoa with a fork and put in a large bowl (or if the pot you cooked it in is large enough to add the veggies and ricotta then just leave it in the pot). Add the tofu ricotta and cooked zucchini mixture. Stir well and add salt and pepper to taste. Your stuffing is now ready.

Scoop the stuffing into the cooked zucchini shells. If you'd like sprinkle some fresh Parmesan on top of each then return to the oven for about 5 minutes to rewarm. (Rewarm them whether or not you add the parmesan cheese.) Serve immediately. Makes 4 stuffed zucchinis.

Zucchini Pie

This recipe was submitted by Stacie V. She was introduced to the pie recipe by Shandi W. and the pie crust recipe by Marge S.

Ingredients:

• 4 c. very thinly sliced zucchini
• 1/3 c. finely chopped onion
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 c. shredded Mozzarella
• 2 tsp. mustard
• 1 (9 inch) uncooked pie crust (SEE BELOW FOR RECIPE)
  

Directions:

In a large skillet, saute zucchini and onion in the butter until tender; drain. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, parsley, salt, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and pepper. Stir in the cheese and zucchini mixture. Spread mustard over the pie crust; pour in zucchini mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand at least 5 minutes before cutting.

I also used this "Press in Pan" Pie crust recipe. I mixed the pie crust and filled it with the zucchini mixture and baked it according to the zucchini recipe instructions.

Press in Pie Crust:

• 1 1/2 c. four
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/2 c. oil
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• (Mix oil and milk together to combine)
  

Lightly mix flour, sugar, and salt in pie pan. Add oil and milk mixture. Lightly mix with fork only until flour is damp. Press in pan like graham cracker crust till smooth and even. Prick with fork 7-8 places. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes or until light brown for baked shell or fill and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 degrees till done.
*This is an excellent crust for pumpkin pie. Bake 45-50 min till done.