I read a blog post this week from Glimmer Life and had a good chuckle when I read the following line:  “I basically designed my whole house around inspirational pics on Pinterest”. I left a comment on her facebook page that my entire menu is curated from Pinterest. Seriously.

Here’s a few recipes I tried last week that I found on Pinterest!

Pesto Salmon and Italian Vegetables in Foil Packets (click here for the original recipe by www.cookingclassy.com

1 lb of trimmed and washed Green Beans

4 pieces of Salmon

Pesto (I made my own – click here for an easy recipe)

Directions:

1. Cut tin foil into 4 large squares.

2. Take a handful of green beans and place it in the middle of the square.

3. Take the salmon and place it on top of the green beans.

3. Spread the pesto over the salmon.

4. Wrap the packet up and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes

FINAL

Zucchini Boats ..the original recipe by www.domesticsuperhero.com can be found here). please note: I improvised a lot!

1. Take 4 zucchinis and scoop out the inside to make a “boat”

2. Spread some pizza sauce in the “boat”

3. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and oregano.

Bingo – you have a side dish for the salmon.

FINAL RESULT

As for dessert….Apple Pie Bites:

It really was a simple recipe (um ….3 ingredients)  but I messed up the directions and it looked NOTHING like it was suppose to. However my guests did not notice as they didn’t see the original recipe.

The original recipe from www.cakescottage.com can be found here . (please click on the link so you can see what it was SUPPOSE to look like)

 Happy Cooking!

 

We all grew up with regular pasta, right? Then whole wheat pasta came along and now I’d like to introduce you to yet another type of pasta. It’s from Catelli and it’s called SuperGreens.

It’s rich in flavour and packed with veggie goodness. Think spinach, zucchini, broccoli and kale.

I’m not kidding. I’m a fan.

For dinner one night, I cut up some yellow and green zucchini and fried it up with some garlic and onions.

I added it to the Catteli SuperGreens Pasta and before you know it – I had myself a pretty yummy dinner.

This is the perfect dinner to make when you have almost nothing in the fridge. All you need is pasta (which I’m sure is in your pantry), a zucchini, onion and garlic. It couldn’t get easier.

While we are on the subject of pasta: I’m curious to know how many varieties of pasta are in your pantry? Please leave a comment and let me know. I’m really curious seeing as I’ve blogged about “How Many Cereals are in Your Pantry” and “How Many Mustards are in Your Fridge”. For the record: I’ve got 5 different boxes of pasta in my pantry. (spaghetti, penne, farfaile, macaroni, fusilli )

Disclosure: I was provided with product for this blog post, however all opinions are my own

 

When I saw this recipe on the internet, I knew I wanted to make it.  It looked stunning and it didn’t require a million ingredients. Plus I knew it would be the perfect side dish for my salmon.

Here’s the recipe for a Zucchini  Rose Tart (adapted from www.Buonappa.net)

Ingredients:
1 roll puff pastry

Filling:

1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
a lot of  fresh oregano, fresh rosemary or fresh thyme!

Decoration:
4 multi color carrots (purple, orange and yellow)
2 zucchini

Instructions:

1. Roll out the puff pastry and place it in the bottom of a greased oven proof baking dish. However,  I was using this recipe for Passover so I covered the bottom of my serving dish with Matza.

If you are using puff pastry, bake in the oven (with weights) at 350 for 20 minutes. Lets cool

2. Mix together in a bowl: eggs, ricotta cheese, parmesan, mozzarella cheese, and fresh herbs (this made all the difference, I promise you).

3. Spread the mixture over the puff pastry (or matzo in my case)

3. For the vegetables: peel the carrots and split in half. Then take your peeler and peel long ribbons. Do the same with the zucchini but don’t peel them. Then place all the ribbons in 2 cups of water and put them in the microwave for 5 minutes. DRAIN.

4. Now for the fun. Roll up each ribbon and then place into the filling (which will acts as a “cement). This take TIME. Make sure you have enough TIME and enough RIBBONS. It took more time and more ribbons than I thought but it was SO worth it.

5. Brush with olive oil (which I forgot to do. Oops)

5. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes

Full disclosure: I swore a few times while making this but I will make it again. It was really worth it.

FINAL

I served this dish along with:

-Salmon with balsamic onions

-Roasted Cauliflower with a Tahini Glaze

– Beet salad with mint/feta cheese

-Spinach salad with blood orange and pecans

Happy Cooking!

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.

 

 

 

I received this salad recipe via email from a mom in the school yard back in 2007. The email was printed and has been in my “recipe binder” (do you have one of those? or am I the only one!!) and it’s a keeper. Promise you – this salad is a real winner.

I like this salad as it has the perfect combination of nuts, cheese, greens and  I love that the zucchini is slightly sauteed.

It’s called ANTIPASTI SALAD.

Ingredients:

Mixed Greens

3 zucchini – unpeeled, julienned

2 tomatoes – finely diced

1 small red onion – finely chopped

1/2 crumbled feta

1/4 cup toasted almonds

1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup pistachios

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Instructions:

1. Place mixed greens in a large salad bowl

2. Heat frying pan. Add oil and lightly sautee the zucchini till tender (but not soft). Place the zucchini in the fridge to cool.

3. Heat another frying pan. Add nuts (all 4 varieties) and toast till aromatic.

4. Add the zucchini, the toasted nuts and the crumbled feta to the mixed greens.

Dressing:

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

Instructions:

Add the garlic into a cuisinart. Then add the olive oil, red wine vinegar and the salt and pepper. The cuisinart really emulsifies the ingredients and your end result will be a much better dressing.

Add the dressing to the salad and toss.

ENJOY.

PS if you are looking for a website with more great recipes – check out Life Made Delicious!

Disclosure: I am part of the Life Made Delicious Connector Program and I receive special perks as part of the affiliation with this group. The opinion on this blog are my own.