On Wednesday I had the opportunity to spend an incredible day with Farmers Feed Cities. We started off the tour with a visit to Quiet Acre Farms in Niagara on the Lake, where we had an up close and personal visit with their peach orchards.

But what caught my attention were these round zucchini at their roadside stall.

It was exactly the type of inspiration that I needed to get back me into the kitchen, seeing as I have done ZERO cooking for the last month. Have you noticed my blog posts (recently) have been about every topic except recipes? Well that has all changed. This trip really inspired me.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 round zucchini

1/2 a container grape tomatoes, cut in half

small chunk of feta cheese

8 black olives (I like Unico ripe oil cured…in a jar)

1/2 onion, chopped finely

1 garlic clove, minced finely

Italian seasoning

METHOD

1. Slice the top off the zucchini and scoop out the inside.

2. Fry the onions and garlic till aromatic . Then add the grape tomotoes, olives, italian seasoning till everything is kinda soft.

3. Stuff into the hollow space of the zucchini. Top with some crumbled feta. Bake on a baking sheet in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Voila…dinner.

Please note that I’m on a no carb diet, otherwise I probably would have added some bread crumbs to this recipe.

If you see these round zucchinis at a farmers market – please pick some up!! You won’t find these in a grocery store. I promise you. For more information about farmers markets, please click here.

Upcoming Blog Post: Canning Peaches!! Stay tuned.

 

 

 

Let’s talk about soup. Every one loves soup right? Seriously, have you ever met someone who doesn’t like soup?

I’ve been enjoying a variety of soups from the Moosewood cookbooks for the last two decades. In particular:

• Split Pea
• Russian Cabbage Borsht
• Creamy Squash (New Recipes From Moosewood)
• Armenian Lentil
• Potato Leek (New Recipes from Moosewood)
• Minestrone

However sometimes (only sometimes) I’m short on time and want to make a soup that’s really quick. Guess what? I found a soup that takes NO TIME at all and its delicious. Once again, I found it on the internet (thanks to FoodLoversWebsite)

Here’s the recipe for Spicy Tomato Soup (which I modified a lot cause I bought the wrong can of tomatoes)

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups minced onion

3-4 cloves of garlic cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dill

lots of ground black pepper

12 oz crushed tomato concentrate (I bought canned diced tomatoes by accident)

2 cups water

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon of mayo or sourcream (I used milk)

2 medium sized tomatoes, diced

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat olive oil and butter in a saucepan.

2.Add onion, garlic, salt, dill, black pepper and stir till onions are translucent (about 6-8 minutes)

3. Add canned tomatoes, water and honey

4. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes.

Because I screwed up buying the wrong tomatoes, I then took a sieve and separated the tomato chunks from the liquid.

Then I took the solids, whizzed it in the Cuisinart while slowly adding the liquids. To make it creamy – I added a touch of milk.

I love soup. In fact my freezer is full of soups at the moment. I crave soup during the winter – don’t you? What’s your favourite soup? Would love to know.