Stuffed Zucchini

You know how they say that necessity is the mother of invention?  Well, the necessity to use some ingredients before they went bad was how I came up with this dish.  I had two huge zucchinis from my weekly Hungry Harvest delivery and about 16 ounces of left-over ricotta that I didn't want to go bad, so I put them together with a few other ingredients and viola, stuffed zucchini was born!

2 large zucchini
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1/4 cup of grated parmigiano reggiano or romano cheese
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
3 large cloves of garlic, grated or minced
6-7 sundried tomatoes, cut into slivers
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg

Cut the zucchini in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds and the interior so you form a "canoe" out of each half of zucchini.

Combine all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Stuff the zucchini with the mixture, and it's great if it heaps up over the top of the zucchini.  If you'd like, you can sprinkle with a little more grated cheese so it forms a bit of a crust when cooked.

Put in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Let them sit covered tightly with foil for 5-10 minutes before serving so the cheese can set.

Enjoy!

Corn and Coconut Bisque

I can't really take credit for this recipe.  Two of my best friends and I recently dined at a lovely restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, DE and we had the most delicious soup.  And of course, I went home and tried to recreate it and found it very easy to do!  All you need is a few ingredients to make this yourself.  This will be best with fresh corn, bought in season.   But if you can find a good quality frozen corn, you could use that too. 

32 ounces of chicken or vegetable broth (homemade is best, but if you use store bought, go for a low sodium broth)
1 can of coconut milk (the low-fat variety is fine)
4 large ears of corn or 3-4 cups of good quality frozen corn
Salt and pepper to taste
Crab meat, green onion, and/or bacon for garnish (all optional)

Add the broth, coconut milk and corn to a pot and bring to a low boil.   Cook for about 10 minutes.

Strain out about 2/3 cup of corn and then using either a blender or immersion blender, puree the rest of the corn and liquid. 

Taste the pureed soup and add salt and pepper to taste.  Go easy on the pepper -- this is a pretty delicate soup and you don't want to overwhelm it.

When it's ready to serve, you can garnish with crumbled crab meat, crumbled bacon, minced green onion, or whatever else may strike your fancy!

Mojito Marinade

When I'm on vacation, I like nothing more than a cool, refreshing mojito.  For those not familiar with this drink, it's a delicious concoction of mint, lime, rum, a bit of sugar, and seltzer.  As I was thinking about one yesterday, it occurred to me that I could make good use of all the mint leaves growing in my backyard and feed my craving with dinner.  So I put together a marinade using the ingredients in a mojito (plus a few other things), soaked my chicken thighs in it before grilling, and voila, another new recipe was born!

Though I put this on chicken, I could see it being just as delicious on pork, shrimp or scallops, or even a cut of beef like tri-tip or skirt steak.  I also sliced up some zucchini, soaked it in this for about 30 minutes, and grilled it -- the veggies were just as delicious as the meat!  And I'd bet that tofu would soak up this marinade beautifully.

It's as easy as can be -- put the following ingredients into a blender or food processor of some sort, puree the whole mixture, and you're ready to go!

1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
4 cloves of garlic
Juice and zest of 2 limes
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Enjoy!