101 things to do with zucchini

Ok, so that title is a little misleading - this post really isn't about that. But I did happen upon an amazing blog (does everyone already know about this one?) called 101 Cookbooks - exploring recipes one cookbook at a time. Mostly vegetarian. My quick perusal of it last night had me really excited about this new discovery. I googled the words 'healthy zucchini bread' to find a new recipe, and about 15th down on the list was this one, which I'm going to try out. (Will report back on the results.)

It must have been fate that I discover 101 Cookbooks yesterday evening, because immediately after I did that little search, I checked my email, and a fellow mom friend, Corrie, had email me the recipe for some chocolate zucchini cupcakes (which our tots had consumed eagerly the weekend prior; see chocolate-smeared faces, below). The cupcake recipe Corrie emailed me, as is turns out, is also from 101 Cookbooks.



I see myself spending a lot of time gleaning recipes from this site. We've been grilling a lot of tofu this summer (it's really quite good that way), and she has mentioned here 'Lemon Achiote Grilled Tofu.' I don't know what achiote is, but it sure sounds good, and I'm going to read all about it. She also has a wheat pizza dough recipe on there that she recommends for grilled pizza - another one to try ...

two fantabulous summer recipes

Whew! Summer is getting hectic around these parts. Suddenly my work load is well, laden with stuff. All of which I'm very very grateful for, but yikes! I think I need another one of me.

I was very good and {mostly} didn't look at blogs last week. Well, maybe just a couple of peeks here and there. But it was helpful to take the week off from posting. I've created a new timesheet to log my client hours as I work, with columns for each client, and one called 'personal.' It'll be my own way of logging all of my hours spent at my desk, scoping out blogs not excluded. I think it'll be quite telling for me.

Summer's humming along at its typical blink-of-an-eye speed. We had some friends over for dinner last night, and thought I'd share some recipes for two things very summer. The zucchini is starting to come in at a mind-boggling pace, so this soup took care of last week's bounty.

chipotle honey butter (for corn)
from sunset magazine, july 2007
combine 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (chopped up), 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/3 cup mild-flavored honey, such as clover, 1 garlic clove, minced, and 1/2 tsp salt. (You could blend it all up in the blender, but I just mixed it by hand.) Sooo good, especially on the Colorado Olathe sweet corn that's appearing (and quickly disappearing at the markets!)

cream of zucchini soup with fresh basil - serve chilled this time of year!
from munson farms (near us, in Boulder County). Visit them by going here.
Melt 2 Tbs butter in a 4 qt saucepan over Med heat. Add 1/2 cup chopped green onions (including the green tops). Cook 5 mins 'til softened, stirring occasionally. Add 2 lbs chopped zucchini - about 5 medium (I used some yellow squash too, and it added nice flecks of color). Cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 3 cups chicken or veg broth, bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered, 20 mins. Add 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves. Allow to cool slightly.

Puree the soup in a blender, then stir in 1 1/2 cups half and half, salt and pepper. Serve chilled with a garnish of sour cream or plain yogurt and a basil leaf.

Ciao!

how to...

get a lot of good things in your toddler at once:

Make these veggie burgers, then add a bit of melted cheese to the top. Worked for us!

1/2 c nuts or seeds
1/2 c cooked beans
1/2 c cooked rice
1/4 c shredded zucchini
1/4 c shredded carrot
1/4 c diced onion
1-2 cloves garlic (optional for the wee ones)
2 tsp spices of your choice
1/2 t sea salt
juice of half a lime

1. place nuts in food processor and process to a powder.
2. add remaining ingredients and pulse several times until mixture is well mixed and just starting to stick together.
3. Shape into patties about 3/4" thick. Grill or cook on skillet with olive oil.

We did black beans, pumpkin seeds, and if I had had it, a little cumin would have been good. I'll add a little chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (chopped up) to our burgers next time (not to Mirelle's though - too spicy.)

An Indian variation could use brown lentils and cashews, plus curry powder. Garnish with yogurt, cilantro, mint.

Thai option could have 1-2 t red or green curry paste and 1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut.

Lots of options! (From this month's Vitamin Cottage newsletter.)

Now, off to 'gymnastics' with Mirelle. More like tumbling for tots. She's good for about the first 30 minutes - then starts to burn out. Gorgeous cool, overcast, post-rainy morning here today. Did something spontaneous yesterday ... hit the Boulder Farmer's Market for dinner instead of going to the grocery store. One point for me! Hehe. Happy Thursday!

An Evening with the Splendid Table

The Splendid Table's Lynne Rossetto Kasper has a new book, How to Eat Supper. I'd read some other reviews of the book on angry chicken's blog and soulemama's blog, and being a fan of the radio show, decided I needed to check this book out for myself. If you order it through the NPR site, part of the proceeds go back to NPR.

Anyway, got my book yesterday, and we made the roasted butternut squash and bowtie pasta last night ... absoluement delicieux. I loved the idea of heating up a low baking pan in the oven while you prep the veggies, and then throw them in the oven ... you're done! A lot easier than slaving over the stove. The whole cookbook (even though I've just begun exploring it) has wonderful weeknight recipe ideas.

And the best news? My mom, sister and I are going to hear Lynne speak at an event at Room and Board in Denver tonight. Yipee! And hopefully get a book signed ...



And if you've never heard The Spendid Table on NPR, check here for airtimes in your area.

Snacks for kids

Happy Monday! Picked up the latest Delicious Living magazine at the natural foods store this weekend. I really love that magazine, and I love that it's free. Of all the magazines I subscribe to (Yoga Journal, Body + Soul, Sierra, Mothering), Delicious Living is one of my faves, and I don't even have to pay for it. They always have the best recipes. If you can't find one at the health food store near you, they're online, and this issue features some great snack ideas for kids.

Here's one I'll have to try out on Mirelle (a huge fan of this combo): Core an apple, stuff it with a mixture of peanut butter, rolled oats, and a touch of honey. Slice the apple crosswise, and voila! Apple rings with peanut-butter centers.

Some other ideas for kids snacks from that issue:
• Apples and cheddar cheese
• Graham crackers crumbled in cottage cheese
• Yogurt dip with fruit slices
• String cheese and whole-grain crackers
• Salsa with baked chips
• Whole-grain, low-sugar cereal and milk
• Raw-food fruit and nut bars
• Whole-grain pretzels and almond butter
• Cinnamon graham crackers and peanut or cashew butter
• Guacamole or hummus with jicama sticks
• Smoothies with yogurt, milk, frozen berries, and banana
• Organic dried veggies

Also, you may be interested in reading Jenny's post about kid's lunches here.

Oh, and I had breakfast on Saturday with my college roommate, Genia, who is now chef extraordinaire and owner of her own healthy, tasty meal business. If you live in Denver, you may want to utilize her services next time 'making dinner' doesn't make it on your to-do list for the day.

Kitchari

Kitchari is a wonderful spring cleansing meal to make. Especially good on a cool spring day like today.

My main yoga teacher, Shiva Rea, often makes kitchari on a hotplate in her hotel rooms when she's traveling (which is often). She turned me on to the kitchari tradition, a soupy meal made from mung beans, basmati rice, and Indian spices. Kitchari, in the ayurvedic tradition, is eaten to improve your digestive fire and eliminate ama (toxins).

If you have a pressure cooker, I did a little experiment on Wednesday and it worked: I combined 1 cup whole dried mung beans, 1 cup basmati rice, and 6 cups filtered water in the pressure cooker. Sealed it, brought it up to high pressure (on high heat), then lowered the temp to keep the pressure up (around low-medium heat) and cooked for 10 mins. I released the pressure by running cold tap water over the top, opened the cooker, et voila, instant kitchari. I didn't add any spices - we just had it with a pat of butter on top. Delish.

Here's a kitchari recipe from Yoga Journal.

Combine some kitchari with a steady diet of hot yoga (which I practiced while my friend Elise was in town; hadn't done that in a while) and you'll be releasing toxins left and right!

I did a teacher training with Shiva back in January 2004 in Venice, CA. She took us out to her house in Malibu and we spent some time on her deck with an incredible view out over the ocean. Gosh that was fun. She's doing a 'pranafication' retreat for past teachers this summer ... a week long. I'm tempted.

Greens, glorious greens

The best way I've found to get my 18-month-old to eat greens is this: steam them, chop them up really small (no tough spines), and serve them with a peanutty-coconutty, yummy sauce (alongside brown rice and some baked tofu or tempeh). Here's my favorite peanut sauce recipe ever (not to peanutty, not too salty, just mild and delicious). If your little one is allergic to peanuts, try substituting cashew butter or almond butter. (You can save $ by skipping the jarred cashew butter and just grinding raw cashew pieces up with a little water in your blender.)

Sate Sauce (from 1000 Vegetarian Recipes, by Carol Gelles - a really good vege cookbook)

In a 1-qt saucepan, heat 2 teaspoons oil over med-high heat. Add 2 cloves minced garlic, cook 10 seconds, stirring until softened. Add 2 teaspoons curry powder, cook, stirring, until absorbed. Stir in 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or other sweetener, like honey or agave), and 1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce). Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes.

And for more info on greens, Whole Foods has a nice little review. (Lovely rainbow swiss chard shown above.)

P.S. My favorite greens of all are beet greens (from the tops of beets) - mild, tender, and delicate, just with a little olive oil and garlic sauteed in the pan. Especially good when they're straight from the garden!

One more P.S. that I'm adding after talking to my friend Andi, who's making baby food for her little Sophia: the best way I was able to get Mirelle to eat greens as a wee babe was to puree the cooked greens up with some soft cooked fruit - ie pears or plums. The greens end up being brown, but really sweet, and you can feed them to your little one in place of a fruit. Sneaky mama...