This stir-fry uses zucchini noodles, which are way lower in cals and carbs than grain-based pasta.
Recipe from “Good Housekeeping”
4 servings
1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro, finely chopped
3 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed with press
2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp sugar
3 medium zucchini, spiralized
In a large bowl, whisk the cilantro, vinegar, oil, garlic, red pepper, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Add the zucchini; toss until well-combined.
Serve immediately.
For a fun, summery twist on baba ganoush, try swapping out eggplants for zucchini to take advantage of the summer squash in its peak season.
Recipe from “Good Housekeeping”
1 lb. small zucchini (about 3), quartered lengthwise
3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and pepper
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup tahini
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp mint leaves, divided
1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
Heat the grill to medium. Toss the zucchini with 1 tablespoon oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt and grill until tender and evenly charred, 8 to 10 minutes.
Transfer the zucchini to a blender along with the garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon mint and pulse to combine.
With the motor running on low speed, drizzle in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and puree until mostly smooth, increasing the blender speed if necessary.
Chop the remaining mint.
Serve the zucchini mixture topped with mint and pine nuts.
Recipe from “101 Cookbooks”
Use your favorite noodles here, long or short. I used bucatini, but also love stubby shapes with grippy ridges.
8 oz dried pasta
3-4 medium zucchini (2 lbs), washed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6-8 medium cloves garlic, grated on microplane
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese
1 cup basil, thinly sliced
1 1/3 cups chicken broth (or water if you’re vegetarian)
black pepper
toasted almond slices
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water well, and boil pasta per package instructions. Drain, reserving some pasta water, and set aside.
In the meantime, slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and use a spoon to remove most of the seeds. Cut into 1/4-inch pieces.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, a minute or so. Stir in the chopped zucchini and 1 1/3 cups chicken broth, cover, and simmer until the zucchini absorbs most of the water and softens, roughly 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, and carefully, with a fork or (even better) a potato masher, smash the zucchini until creamy.
Transfer the zucchini to a large serving bowl.
Add most of the cheese and most of the basil, and lots of pepper.
Stir in the pasta, and a splash of the pasta water if you want to thin it out at all.
Taste, and add salt if needed.
Finish by topping with lots of toasted almonds, and the remaining cheese and basil.
This is a super-quick and fabulous recipe from “Smitten Kitchen”.
A perfect throw-together supper.
Serves 2 but can easily be doubled
*This recipe cannot be made in advance. It benefits from a good salt and pepper seasoning. You can throw some thin slices of parmesan on or skip it.
1 to 2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp thinly sliced almonds
1 medium or 2 small zucchinis, cut into 1/8-inch matchsticks
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Peelings of pecorino romano or parmesan cheese, to taste (optional)
Heat a large skillet over medium-high and add enough oil to coat the pan well. Heat the oil until hot but not smoking, then add the almonds to the pan.
Cook them, stirring, until the almonds are golden-brown, approximately a minute or two. Don’t skimp on this step; they provide a depth of flavor that carries the whole dish.
Add the zucchini to the pan, tossing it with the oil and almonds until it just begins to glisten, about one minute.
The idea is not to cook the zucchini so much as warm it so it begins to soften.
Season well with salt and pepper, slide onto a plate, top with cheese (if using) and immediately dig in.
What to do with all that summer squash? I will be posting many recipes over the summer using summer squash.
This is #1 from the wonderful BBC Good Food website.
Simple, tasty and a little different. All you need is a green salad with some avocado in it to serve as a side.
Serves 6
1 lb pack penne pasta
5 zucchini, grated
2 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, finely chopped
16 oz pot crème fraîche
2 oz Parmigano Reggiano cheese, finely grated
A medium bunch basil, reserve a few leaves for garnishing
4 oz chunk ciabatta
A handful toasted pine nuts, plus a few extra for sprinkling
Slightly undercook the pasta, then drain, reserving a ladleful of cooking water. Rinse the pasta with cold water to cool. Drain again, toss in a little oil to stop it sticking together and set aside while you get the rest of the bake ready.
Fry the zucchini in oil for about 10 mins to drive off most of the liquid; they should reduce down a lot. Add the garlic and onion to the pan, cook for 2 mins more, then season really well and add to the pasta. Stir in most of the crème fraîche and half the Parmesan with seasoning, then tip into an ovenproof dish. Dollop the rest of the crème fraîche over the top.
Heat oven to 350 F.
Whizz nearly all of the basil, remaining cheese, bread and pine nuts together to make pesto crumbs, then scatter all over the top.
Finish with a few more pine nuts.
Bake for 20 mins until the topping is crisp and bubbling at the edges.
Serve with a few more basil leaves scattered over.
This fast, simple and stunning side dish by chef Timothy Hollingsworth makes grilled zucchini so much more interesting.
Servings: 6
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 lbs medium zucchini or yellow squash, quartered lengthwise
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and Pepper
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp loosely packed tarragon leaves, chopped
Put the pumpkin seeds in a small skillet over moderately low heat and cook, stirring, until toasted, 3 to 5 minutes.
Light a grill or use a very heavy ridged pan over a hot gas flame.
Toss the zucchini with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the zucchini over high heat, turning once, until charred and just tender, about 7 minutes.
Transfer to a work surface and cut into 1-inch pieces. Arrange on a platter and top with dollops of the ricotta and the toasted pumpkin seeds. Season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle the zucchini with the pomegranate molasses, garnish with the chopped tarragon and serve.
Cheesy Zucchini Gratin is not only low carb, it is insanely delicious and loaded with garlic and the most heavenly cheesy cream sauce. Adults and children will both love it.
1 large zucchini, sliced thin & cut in half circles
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup of beef broth
1 cup cheese of your choice (mozzarella/asiago mix is great, also provolone/fontina works wonderfully too)
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
In a large oven proof skillet, melt butter with the onions until lightly caramelized, then add in the fresh garlic and saute for about 1 minute on medium heat.
Add in the beef broth, salt, pepper and the heavy cream into the onion/garlic mixture and stir to combine.
Allow it to slightly begin to bubble, then add in the parmesan cheese and stir.
Add in the sliced zucchini and cook an for an additional 5 minutes until softened..
Top with your cheese of choice evenly across the entire top and bake at 425F for about 12-15 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown to your liking.
This is a lovely and easy way to use zucchini as a snack or side.
Serves: 4-6
3 medium sized zucchini (about 1½ pounds)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 garlic clove, minced
½ tsp oregano
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Cut the zucchini lengthwise into quarters, then cut in half widthwise.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
Lay the zucchini on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon peel, garlic, and oregano.
Drizzle over the zucchini spears. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
To give more of a crisp edge, broil for the last 3 minutes.
These are super easy, and lovely to make ahead of time and reheat. You can change up the ingredients, just make sure they’re super tasty with lots of good quality strong cheddar cheese.
6 large organic eggs
1/2 cup milk (or cream for a richer taste)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (6oz) shredded mature Cheddar cheese (not the pre-grated sort)
3/4 cup zucchini, chopped small
1/2 cup chopped bacon
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped small
2 tbsp chopped red onion
Makes: 6 servings/12 muffin frittatas
Heat the oven to 350°F.
In a little butter, saute the zucchini, bacon, red pepper and chopped onion until starting to soften and the bacon is starting to brown.
Beat the eggs, milk/cream, salt and pepper in medium bowl until well-blended. Add the grated cheese and the zucchini, bell pepper, bacon and onion mixture; mix well.
Spoon evenly into 12 greased muffin cups, about 1/4 cup each. Add a little extra grated cheese on top of each muffin if you like.
Bake in the oven until just set, 20 to 22 minutes. COOL on wire rack 5 minutes. REMOVE from cups; serve warm.
When the weeks are cooler, I tend to open the fridge doors and haul out any vegetables that could go into a soup. You will be surprised what wonderful concoctions you can come up with and how much soup you can make from very little.
Don’t overthink it and definitely don’t measure anything as soups are one of the most forgiving and inventive things you can make.
The beginning stage
The middle stage
The end stage
This week my ingredients are;
4 large onions, peeled and chopped
1 large turnip, peeled and chopped
6 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 head of celery, including leaves, peeled of stringy stuff
1 butternut squash, peeled, cubed, tossed in olive oil and seasoning and roasted at 350 degrees for 45 mins
1 whole cauliflower, broken into florets
about 12 asparagus spears, snapping off the tough ends and chopping into 1 inch lengths
5 zucchini, halved then quartered lengthways and chopped across into 3/4″ pieces
3 heads of broccoli including stems chopped
1 whole bunch fresh parsley stalks and all
french green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1″ lengths
4 to 6 (32 oz) containers chicken broth. (You can use vegetable broth if you’re vegetarian, but I think chicken broth adds far more flavor.
I put about 1/4 cup of olive oil and about 3 tbsp butter into the bottom of a very large soup stock pot, then in goes the onions, turnip, carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli and everything else, stirring as I go so everything mixes together.
After about 15 minutes of this, add the broth, stirring and it should cover the vegetables with an extra level of about 1 to 2 inches, so the soup isn’t too thick.
Let the soup bubble away, stirring it every 20 mins, for about 45 mins at least, until all the vegetables are soft. Taste the juice and season with salt and pepper, but not too much as this is something you can do after you have pureed it.
When it’s cooked, take it off the heat and leave aside for about 1 hour until it’s not so hot. Puree the soup in a blender and at this stage you can add a little cream for a more velvety texture, some soft goat cheese for a really lovely flavor and even some grated mature cheddar or Parmesan cheese, returning it back to a large saucepan after it’s pureed.
Put back on the heat, taste and season until it tastes perfect.
Just remember, play with it, even adding some chopped pancetta or bacon when you fry the vegetables and know that this huge pot of flavorful goodness will feed you for quite a long time and cost nothing more!
The “haul” for the rest of the week
* Some other great vegetables to use are;
spinach
potatoes
sweet potatoes
tomatoes
Jerusalem artichokes (the knobbly ones)
celeriac (celery root)
fennel
kale
frozen peas, thawed
Swiss chard
Remember, whatever vegetables you put in the soup, there are certain ones that will naturally thicken the soup, like
asparagus
butternut squash
potatoes
sweet potatoes
parsnips
carrots
Cannellini or other tinned beans
cauliflower
