Ginger Soy Vegetable Stir Fry

Growing up, vegetables almost always played a secondary or tertiary role to meat, predominately beef, and starch, usually potatoes. Even with this limited exposure, I have always been a vegetable lover when fresh vegetables are served to me. However, when I'm planning out our weekly menu, I can sometimes fall back into the habit of forgetting to include a sufficient amount of veggies in a meal or week of meals.

Robert regularly asks for me to cook more veggies, and I am just now starting to discover meals that meet his request. Of course I'm benefitted by a husband who is willing to forgo meat from time to time if the vegetarian meal I place before him is flavorful and filling. This stir fry meets both requirements. The ginger soy and low-sodium soy sauces provide the veggies with a great flavor without compromising the health benefits and the veggies and rice are more than enough for a satisfying dinner.

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Ginger Soy Vegetable Stir Fry


Ingredients
1 small yellow squash, sliced
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
1/2 of a red onion cut into thick slices
3/4 cup sugar snap peas
1 package sliced mushrooms
3 green onions, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon ginger soy sauce
1 small can water chestnuts, drained
cooked brown rice

Instructions
In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil over medium high heat.

 Add the squash, zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, snap peas and onions.

 Saute for 9 minutes then add the garlic and green onions.

 Saute for 2 minutes more then add the water chestnuts and stir to warm through.

 Pour in low sodium soy sauce,

 and ginger soy sauce.

 Stir well to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over a bed of brown rice for a healthy vegetarian meal.

Summer Veggie and Chicken Pizza

So it is the middle of the summer. We have hit day 26 of 100 plus degree temperatures in a row. I have forgotten what rain is like. I know, I live in Texas, I should expect this in the summer, but for some reason, this summer feels hotter and longer and I am just ready for it to be over! So, in an effort to look at the bright side of things, I made a summer grilled veggie pizza the other night, and indeed, it helped soothe my summer woes. It was fresh, light and yummy! A perfect lazy Saturday night dinner. I hope that you enjoy it too!

I utilized a mandolin to cut my veggies. It is an essential tool to have in a cooking kitchen, as it slices very thin, evenly and quickly (and more safely than I can cut with my poor knife skills). I also used a pizza stone, it honestly does make a difference in the texture of the crust and the timing of the cooking. Because you pre-heat the oven with the pizza stone inside, the stone is evenly heated, and therefore, when you place the pizza on the stone, the pizza is also evenly heated and thus no spots that are over or underdone! Both of these cooking devices were given to me by my mom! Thanks mom!

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Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury pizza crust
1 thinly sliced and grilled zucchini
1 thinly sliced and grilled squash
1/2 cup of sweet corn
2 breasts of grilled chicken, cut into bite sized squares
1/4 cup of reduced balsamic vinegar for drizzling
1/2 cup sliced Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Steps:
1. Grill the thinly sliced zucchini and squash (I used the indoor grill as it was just too hot outside). You just want to get light grill marks so that the veggies start to soften and gain some flavor. I brushed mine with olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper.
2. Grill the chicken and dice into bite sized pieces.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. If using a pizza stone, then place the pizza stone in the oven during pre-heating.
4. Once the oven has preheated, carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven with oven mitts (or just use a cookie sheet with non-stick spray or cornmeal to prevent sticking) and unroll the pizza dough onto the stone with some cornmeal between the stone and dough.
5. Quickly add the prepared ingredients: Evenly spread out the zucchini, squash and chicken. Then sprinkle the corn over everything and then finish with a heavy drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar and shaved Parmesan cheese.

6. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges.
7. Enjoy right away on a hot summer night!

What? Me...spoiled? 

 Puppy tug of war!

 Action shot!

I think they both won! They took long naps after...so perhaps that means I won!

Blueberry and Zucchini Bread

There are many reasons why any given recipe catches my attention enough for me to decide to give it a try. Sometimes the recipe includes my favorite ingredients. Others simply use techniques or ingredients that I have wanted to attempt to use. And then there are the recipes that include one or more (more is preferable) items I received in my produce share and sound tasty. This recipe is one of those latter recipes.

It’s summertime and that means that zucchini and yellow squash are a plenty, and the last 3 produce shares have certainly reflected that reality. I have heard from my friends who have gardens in their backyards that zucchini plants are often so fruitful that you quickly run out of ways to prepare them that don’t get tiresome. I haven’t reached that point yet, but I am certainly trying to get creative with how I use them anyways.

The most recent produce share also included a pint of ripe, Texas blueberries. Now, while I do love the taste of blueberries, I’m not one that enjoys them raw. Rather I tend to prefer them baked in muffins, pancakes or cobblers. So needless to say when I saw this recipe that would use not only some of the zucchini I had in stock but also the blueberries I was sold. I had to try it.

The results are interesting. The bread is certainly sweeter than the typical zucchini bread which is a result of the blueberries. Additionally, it’s denser than your average blueberry muffin as well. Ultimately, the more bites you take, the more compelled you are to take another and, in the end, the taste is conclusively delicious.

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Blueberry and Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar (I think next time I’ll reduce it to 1/2 cup)

1 large egg plus 1 egg white

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup shredded zucchini (about 1.5 med zucchinis)

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 pint of blueberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, 

sugar, 

brown sugar, 

egg and vanilla.

Stir to fully combine. 

Stir in zucchini and mix well. 

In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, 

baking soda, 

baking powder, 

salt and cinnamon. 

Stir to combine.

Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and gently fold them in until just barely combined (don’t over mix). 

Fold in the blueberries.

Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan or muffin tins. 

Place in the oven and bake until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean, about 30  minutes for muffins or an hour for a loaf. Remove from oven and let cool in pans for about 15 minutes 

then place on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting and serving.

Source: All Things Catered (unfortunately this blog appears to no longer exist)

Tuscan Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

It's no secret that my protein of choice for cooking is chicken, more specifically, chicken breasts, and as such, I am always on the lookout for a new and fresh way to prepare chicken for dinner. Unfortunately, it's easy to get in a rut of boring, boneless skinless chicken breast recipes, if you're not careful. This used to be a more common issue for me than it is now. The main reason for this is that I used to be reluctant to try any recipe that asked for anything other than boneless skinless chicken breasts. Oh my, was I missing out!

The use of skinless bone-in chicken breasts in this recipe is a big part of what makes it so delicious. All that time I spent avoiding recipes that kept the bone I was missing out on so much moisture and flavor! What a waste. The aroma of the fennel and lemon as the meal roasts in the oven is inviting and only makes you want to rush the cooking process. Don't fall into this temptation! It is well worth the wait when you taste the tenderness that is a result of the longer time in the oven.

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Tuscan Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Ingredients

6 roma tomatoes

3 medium zucchini

1 bulb fennel

4 bone-in chicken breast halves, skin removed

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

3/4 teaspoons salt, divided

1 shallot, minced

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Begin by cutting the tomatoes into quarters lengthwise and removing the seeds. Place in a large baking dish and set aside.

Trim the edges of the zucchini, cut in half crosswise and cut each half into half lengthwise resulting in quarters all roughly the same size. Add to the tomatoes.

Remove the outer layer from the fennel bulb and discard.

Cut off the long stems, leaving only a small amount and discard. Cut the remaining fennel bulb into 8 wedges so that each one is held together by a piece of the remaining stem. Add to the tomatoes and zucchini.

Add two tablespoons of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the vegetables. Toss to coat.

Place the chicken breasts, skin removed, on top of the vegetables.

Mince the shallot and place in a small bowl.

Add the lemon zest,

lemon juice,

remaining tablespoon of olive oil,

and salt and pepper.

Stir together to combine.

Rub the mixture into the chicken breasts.

Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Remove and stir the vegetables and return to the oven for 30 more minutes. When done, the chicken should be browned and the veggies tender.

Source: Adapted from Ellie Krieger