Vegetable Stew

I hadn't made this recipe in probably ten years and then suddenly woke up one morning with a craving for it. I don't know what vital nutrient I'm lacking that would account for such an atypically healthy craving. I just labeled it a happy anomaly and went with it. I have to stay, it was a nice change of pace not to feel guilty for indulging myself. And after a walk to the farmer's market (where I was delighted to find every vegetable on my list), I came home and whipped up a batch of this hearty stew that totally hit the spot. Really, I swear (again, I can't explain it).

VEGETABLE STEW

Yield: 6 large servings

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (or 5 tablespoons olive oil)

2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 medium potatoes, cut into small chunks

1 eggplant, diced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 stalk broccoli, cut into tiny florets

3 carrots, sliced
3/4 cup burgundy (or other red wine)
2 medium-small zucchini, cut into chunks
2 large (or 3 medium) ripe tomatoes, diced
¼ lb. sliced white or cremini mushrooms
6 oz. tomato paste
¼ cup molasses (unsulfured)
1 teaspoon dried dill weed

sour cream (optional)

freshly chopped parsley (optional)

1.      Melt the butter or oil in a large stew pot.  Add the onions, garlic, potatoes and eggplant and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Sauté until potatoes begin to get tender.

2.      Stir in the celery, broccoli, carrots and wine. Cover the pot and steam until all vegetables begin to get tender, stirring occasionally.

3.      Add zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, tomato paste, molasses and dill. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender (stirring occasionally). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4.      Serve hot, topped with sour cream and freshly chopped parsley.

slightly adapted from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen

onions, garlic, potatoes and eggplant in pot

starting to get tender

adding celery, carrots, broccoli and wine

added vegetables getting tender

adding zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms,
tomato paste, molasses and dill

mixed

about 25 minutes later...vegetable stew

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Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad

For those of you with a green thumb (mine is usually more of a dull black & blue), this is a great recipe to use all that bounty overflowing from your garden. It must be a challenge to use all those fresh vegetables, which are probably all maturing at the same time, before they go bad. I'm assuming this because people with gardens are always giving away their crops with a big smile that smacks of desperation. They don't want to see their harvest wasted, but if they have to eat one more zucchini, they'll lose it. So this recipe is also for the family, friends and neighbors of those gardeners...do them a solid and turn their crops into a nice, hearty vegetable salad (of course if you do, they just keep bringing you more). I guess you can always buy them a canning set for their birthday and see if they take the hint.

MEDITERRANEAN EGGPLANT AND BARLEY SALAD

Makes 5-6 (main course) or 8-10 (side dish) servings

1 1/2 lb. eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3/4 lb. zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

10 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup chopped scallion (from 1 bunch)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne (to taste)

1 1/4 cups pearl barley (8 oz)

2 ½ cups (20 oz.) reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 lb. cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/3 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and halved

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, rinsed and drained if desired

1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
6 oz. block feta cheese, crumbled into medium chunks

Roast eggplant and zucchini:
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 425° F.

Toss eggplant and zucchini with 5 tablespoons oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl, then spread in 2 oiled large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pans. Roast vegetables in oven, stirring occasionally and switching position of pans halfway through baking, until vegetables are golden brown and tender, 20 to 25 minutes total. Combine vegetables in 1 pan and cool, reserving other pan for cooling barley.

Cook barley:
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook scallion, cumin, coriander, and cayenne, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add barley and cook, stirring until well coated with oil, 2 minutes more. Add broth and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until all of liquid is absorbed and barley is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Transfer to reserved shallow baking pan and spread to quickly cool, uncovered, to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Make dressing and assemble salad:
Whisk together lemon juice, garlic, sugar, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 3 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Add barley, roasted vegetables, and remaining ingredients (except the cheese) to bowl with dressing and toss until combined well. Toss in the cheese.

Cooks' note: Salad can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Return to room temperature before serving.

barely adapted from Gourmet, September 2006

eggplant and zucchini

chopped eggplant and zucchini drizzled
with oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper

before roasting

roasted

chopping scallions

scallions and spices

adding barley

adding water and broth

cooked barley

barley cooling

dressing ingredients

dressing whisked

everything but the cheese

mixed with dressing

feta

Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad

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California Grilled Veggie Sandwich

I'm warning you right now that this sandwich is a little hard to eat (or at least hard to eat gracefully). So maybe you shouldn't serve it at a fancy garden party. But if it's just for your friends and family, definitely give this one a try. If you can't be a slob in front of them, eat it alone. Or get yourself some new friends (I was going to add family to that, but that seems a little cold, even for me). 

I was surprised at how much I loved this. The garlic mayo and soft, warm feta is just unbelievably delicious with the lightly charred vegetables. Plus using homemade rosemary focaccia didn't hurt. I've never gotten all that worked up over a grilled vegetable sandwich before, but this one has me wondering when I'm going to make it again.

CALIFORNIA GRILLED VEGGIE SANDWICH

Yield: 4 servings

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup sliced red bell peppers

1 small zucchini, sliced

1 red onion, sliced

1 small yellow squash, sliced

2 (4- x 6-inch) focaccia bread pieces, split horizontally

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1.      In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Set aside in the refrigerator.

2.      Preheat the grill for high heat.

3.      Brush vegetables with olive oil on each side. Brush grate with oil. Place bell peppers and zucchini closest to the middle of the grill, and set onion and squash pieces around them. Cook for about 3 minutes, turn, and cook for another 3 minutes. The peppers may take a bit longer. Remove from grill, and set aside.

4.      Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese. Place on the grill cheese side up, and cover with lid for 2 to 3 minutes. This will warm the bread, and slightly melt the cheese. Watch carefully so the bottoms don't burn. Remove from grill, and layer with the vegetables. Enjoy as open faced grilled sandwiches.

from allrecipes.com by Heather Johnson

mayonnaise, garlic and lemon

red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash and red onion

veggies on the grill

If you like to grill small stuff, I suggest you get one
of these grill pans (it really cuts down on food loss
between the grill grates and makes it easier to take
things on and off the grill).

getting grilled

homemade rosemary focaccia

focaccia sliced, spread with garlic mayo and sprinkled with feta

focaccia on the grill

grilled focaccia

The feta doesn't look all that melty, but it's
warm and soft (and the bread is toasty). I bought
a really good quality feta and it was so worth it!

zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper added

topped off with onions

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Zucchini Cornbread

If your garden is producing a bumper crop of zucchini this year, crowbar some of the excess into some fresh baked cornbread. Just like with regular zucchini bread, the zucchini doesn't add a whole lot of flavor, mostly just pretty green flecks and moisture. 

I liked this bread, but if we're being totally honest here, it's not nearly as exciting and crowd-pleasing as zucchini-feta pancakes. So if you really are overrun with zucchini this year, I recommend trying those. Now I'm a little bummed I didn't make that instead.

ZUCCHINI CORNBREAD

Makes 8 to 10 servings

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter plus more for pan

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 large zucchini (about 10 oz.)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup medium-grind cornmeal

______________________________________________________________________

1.      Position a rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter a 9” x 5” x 3" loaf pan.

2.      Melt 1/2 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue cooking until butter solids at bottom of pan turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Scrape butter into a medium bowl. Set aside and let cool. Whisk in eggs and buttermilk.

3.      Trim zucchini ends. Thinly slice five 1/8" rounds from 1 end of zucchini and reserve for garnish. Coarsely grate remaining zucchini. Add to bowl with butter mixture and stir until well blended.

4.      Sift both flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl. Whisk in cornmeal. Add zucchini mixture; fold just to blend (mixture will be very thick). Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top. Place reserved zucchini slices atop batter down center in a single layer.

5.      Bake bread until golden and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 55-65 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan; let cool completely on a wire rack. Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

from Sara Dickerman

browned butter

grated zucchini

mixing zucchini into butter, eggs and buttermilk

adding cornmeal to dry ingredients

everything mixed

batter in the pan with zucchini slices on top

baked, in pan

baked, out of pan

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Chocolate-Zucchini Mini Cupcakes

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Here's my idea of some good, clean fun...sneaking zucchini into the Valentine's Day cupcakes I made for my daughter's school party (when you have kids, fun isn't what it used to be). Between holidays and the kids' birthdays, it seems like there's a party every week. So I get a little frustrated with the amount of sweets that are consumed at school (don't even get me started on school lunches in general, I'll get way too worked up). 

So adding zucchini makes me feel better (even if the mini cupcakes are so small that each kid probably gets only 1/2 teaspoon). It also amuses me to know it's in there (and know they don't know it). But the zucchini isn't there purely for my own entertainment, it also helps keep the cupcakes moist.

CHOCOLATE-ZUCCHINI MINI CUPCAKES

WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

(Yield: approx. 60)

Cupcakes:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup canola oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 2 1/2 medium)

6 oz. mini semisweet chocolate chips

Frosting:

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.      Preheat oven to 325° F.  Line 60 mini muffin tin cups with liners.

2.      Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into medium bowl; set aside.

3.      Beat sugar, butter and oil in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.

4.      Mix in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions each. Mix in grated zucchini and chocolate chips. Pour batter into cupcake liners, about 3/4 full.

5.      Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Cool completely in pan before frosting.

6.      Beat the cream cheese and butter using with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat in sugar and vanilla extract. Can be made a day ahead (cover and chill; bring to room temperature before using).  Spread or pipe frosting onto cupcakes. 

adapted from Bon Appétit, November 1995

mixing in the secret ingredient (shh)

When a batter is thick enough (like this one), I like to use a ziploc bag
to pipe it into the cupcake liners (just snip off one of the corners).

filling the cups

cupcakes baked (don't worry about the stray zucchini
peaking out, the frosting will cover that right up.

packed and ready for the kids (tee hee hee)

As you can see, I kind of took the easy way out and used colorful sprinkles. I just didn't have time this weekend to get much more detailed than that. But since I didn't have a blog last year, here are the Valentine cookies I made last February (using the same sugar cookie & icing recipe I used for my Christmas cookies).

I decorated these.

The ones on the left were decorated by my daughter
Maddie (then 4 1/2). Not bad, I actually think
they show promise (then again, I am her Mom).

A word to all you single people out there who feel crappy on Valentine's Day because the whole world is talking about how in love they are and making you feel like something is wrong with you because you're not paired up. I would just like to say that I view Valentine's Day as another opportunity to make cookies or cupcakes, but aside from that, I think being told when to express your love is basically B.S. A Hallmark holiday if ever there was one. Married or single, I've always felt that way. Just thought I'd put it out there. So don't let the greeting card companies win and have a happy day (in spite of the over sized bouquet the woman next to you at work just had delivered to her desk).