Stuffed Zucchini

Are your fridge drawers overflowing with squash like mine are?  We don't even have our own garden, and they're coming out of our ears!  We are pretty lucky people to have such wonderful friends/neighbors/family to share the fruits of their labors with us, huh!  I know.  Hopefully next year we will be able to pay it forward.  For now though, you have someone else's green thumb to thank for this tasty dinner.  I've seen zucchini stuffed with a variety of things - meat, rice, veggies, greens, etc. - so I figured I'd just use what I had.  That's the greatest thing about recipes like these (aside from the fact that they're easy & pretty quick!) - you can substitute almost anything you've got in your fridge for something I used that you might be out of (or can't stand the taste of).  So, get busy making those little zucchini boats and set sail with stuffed zucchini for dinner tonight!

Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise & centers hollowed

1 1/2 c. cooked brown rice

1/3 c. sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped

1/2 c. artichoke hearts, roughly chopped

1/3 c. button mushrooms, chopped

3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

garlic & onion powder to taste

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil and place zucchini halves rounded side down on the tray.

2. Mix together all other ingredients & spoon the mixture into the hollows of each zucchini halve.  Be generous with the filling!

3. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees, or until cheese in filling is just starting to brown & zucchini is tender.

sPiNaCh-ArTiChOkE mAc & ChEeSe

I love pretty much all things that include in their title spinach-artichoke, be it a dip of some kind, a pasta, or any other edible creation. So it was no surprise that my mouth literally started to water when I saw Rachael Ray do this one on her show. I immediately put it at the top of my list of "recipes to try" and added the ingredients to my grocery list. I was able to use two kinds of cheese I've never cooked with before, and make yet another trip to my favorite Cheese Kingdom at Harmon's. It was a BIG hit with Dick, and it's a good thing we always have plenty of leftovers because I'm sure this one would have been fought over for lunch the next day if there was only enough for one. It was simple to make, and tasted fantastic! I hope you love it just as much as we did.

Spinach-Artichoke Mac & Cheese

From Rachael Ray

Ingredients
1 lb semolina or whole wheat penne
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 c. white wine, or chicken broth
2 c. milk
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste (I used dried w/ good results)
1 10-oz box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung dry in a clean kitchen towel
1 10-oz box frozen chopped artichokes, defrosted and wrung dry in a clean kitchen towel
black pepper
1 1/2 c. shredded Italian Fontina cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top
1 1/2 c. grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top


Directions
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta, salt water & cook pasta to al dente.
2. While the pasta water comes to a boil, place a medium pot over med-low heat w/ 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, ~2 Tbsp, and the butter. Add the onion & garlic to the pan and cook the veggies until very soft, ~10 min. Then heat the broiler and position rack in the middle of the oven.
3. Turn the heat up to med-high and sprinkle the flour into the pan. Cook for ~1 min. then whisk the wine/broth into the pan, cooking for another minute to burn off the alcohol. Whisk the milk into the pan and bring up to a bubble. Add the nutmeg, spinach, artichokes, salt & pepper to the sauce and simmer until thickened and vegetables are warmed through, 2-3 min. more. Add 1 cup of each of the cheeses to the sauce & stir until melted.
4. Toss the prepared sauce w/ the cooked pasta and transfer to a casserole dish. sprinkle some more cheese over the top and back until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown, ~25 minutes.

Spinach-Artichoke Dip & tradition...TRADITION!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Alright, alright, I know that Turkey Day isn't here quite yet, but blogging is the last thing I'm going to be doing Thursday, so you get my holiday wishes today. I absolutely adore Thanksgiving - to me it just feels like the official start of the holiday season! I'm already listening to Christmas music these days, but on Thanksgiving I will no longer feel like a big dork for listening so early. I'll also bust out all of my Christmas decorations, and for the next month or so I'll become a more cheerful person...I can't explain it, it just comes with the holiday. This year we'll be spending the holiday with Dick's side of the fam, and although I love them dearly, I have a hard time not doing exactly what I've done for my whole life (or as long as I can remember) with my own family. I'm a terribly sentimental and emotional person that holds fast to tradition, and when something, even my own marriage, messes with those traditions my world gets seriously rocked! Crazy, I know. Anyway, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions since I won't actually be doing them this year, and maybe this new coping mechanism will help me not be such a basket case hahaha.

Probably not, but here's hoping!

Waking up to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - I love the Rockettes!!!

Watching Mr. Pederman host the National Dog Show.

As if that wasn't enough tv, watching Miracle on 34th Street (yes, the new one!), before even taking a shower for the day.

Trucking it to Grandma Shirl's for my aunt Dayna's killer Monkey Bread (which I just realized when searching for a picture is not what the rest of the world thinks monkey bread is!). Also, we may never enjoy this family fave again, now that she's on a crazy no-carb diet!

Making the saddest looking graham cracker gingerbread houses you've ever seen, after dinner is cleaned up, but not before it has completely settled in our stomachs.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and that you enjoy all of your favorite traditions!!! Maybe this awesome dip can be a new tradition to add to your spread this year.

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

From the Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

1 10-oz bag baby spinach

1 c. packed fresh basil

3/4 c. canned cannellini beans, drained & rinsed (I used garbanzo beans)

6 oz Neufchatel cream cheese

1 clove garlic, smashed

1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth

1 14-oz can artichoke hearts, drained & squeezed dry & finely chopped

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 c. shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese

pinch of cayenne pepper

2-3 dashes Worcestershire sauce

freshly ground black pepper

cooking spray

chips or crackers for serving

Directions

1. preheat oven to 450 degrees. bring a pot of salted water to a boil and prepare a bowl of ice water. stir the spinach and basil into the boiling water and cook until bright green, ~30 seconds. remove w/ a slotted spoon and immediately plunge in the ice water. drain and squeeze dry, then roughly chop.

2. puree the beans, cream cheese, garlic, & chicken broth in a food processor until smooth, scraping the sides as needed. transfer to a medium bowl and fold in the spinach and basic, artichokes, Parmesan & 1/2 c. mozzarella. add the cayenne, Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, and black pepper to taste.

3. mist a deep 1-quart casserole dish w/ cooking spray. spread the dip mixture in the dish & top w/ the remaining 1/4 c. mozzarella. bake until golden & bubbly, 20-25 minutes. serve warm w/ chips or crackers.

Coming up:

Pecan-Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

spinach artichoke whole-wheat penne & withdrawals

Hello? Is anybody still out there? I've totally neglected my blog this past week because my work/life schedule has been sooooo crazy-busy! I am a Wellness Specialist with an employee wellness company, and we started our annual fitness testing for all the employees this week. I also signed up for an assignment to do a "Lunch & Learn" about healthy cooking substitutions which consumed MUCHO time, I covered a shift for someone, and my volleyball league started, so things have really been all over the place...but in a good way haha. I pretty much had to choose between sleep and blogging, and sleep clearly won. Although I've been tired a lot, so who knows if all these blogging withdrawals have been worth it?! Anyway, I'm back, and I hope some of you will come back with me!

So, this recipe's been in the pipeline for a little while - there was clearly no time for cooking this week. It didn't take long to make at all, which means I probably could have made it this week if I'd really wanted to. I have to admit that I'd never made something of this same green brightness before, so I was a little bit concerned, but the first bite wiped out any fear or reservation I may have had. It was spectacular!!! Dick loved it, too, of course. Another home run by the lovely, talented, and I'm not gonna lie I think she's a little high strung, miss Rachael Ray. It may very well be one of her infamous 30-minute meals, but I wouldn't know because I just found it online when I was searching for spinach recipes. I bought this 3 1/2 lb bag of spinach at Costco thinking oh, we'll definitely eat that, piece of cake. But let me just tell you, 3 1/2 lbs of spinach is pretty deceiving in a bag because that is a lot of freaking spinach!

Anywho, hope you like this one just as much as we did.

Spinach Artichoke whole-wheat Penne

From Rachael Ray of the Food Network

Ingredients

1 pound whole-wheat penne pasta

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 (15 oz) can or 1 (10 oz) box frozen artichoke hearts, drained & quartered

1 small bundle farm fresh spinach, stems trimmed

1 shallot, peeled & roughly chopped

1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock

a handful of fresh mint leaves

a handful lightly toasted slivered almonds

kosher salt and black pepper

1 large clove garlic, peeled & minced or grated

a handful grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of cooking water.

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in medium non-stick skillet. Add artichokes to heat through & lightly brown at edges.

In bowl of food processor, add shallot, chicken stock, spinach leaves, mint, almonds, garlic & salt & pepper, to taste. Turn processor on and add about 2 Tbsp olive oil.

Scrape the spinach pesto into the artichoke pan & loosely cover with foil (I used a lid). Bring mixture to simmer over low to med-low heat and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the reserved pasta cooking water, the pasta & the cheese. Toss to coat the pasta with the sauce and heat for 1 minute. Transfer to serving bowl or platter, season with salt & pepper to taste, and serve.