Zucchini Alfredo

Well it's summer here at the cottage, and that means piles and piles of zucchini! i know people who get 'too much' zucchini, but it hasn't happened to us yet, we just love that stuff. we shred them and add to pancake batter (soooo good with a little cinnamon), grill them, saute them, steam them, and stir fry them. i have three plants this year, and they're barely keeping up! i usually check them every other day or so, and i let the fruits get pretty big so they go farther. every once in a while though one slips by me and gets HUGE, and a little tough. my new favorite solution? zucchini 'pasta'. last week i found a monster hiding in my squash patch and had to think of something to do with it. my husband, uncharacteristically, asked for some sort of pasta with dinner. i'm still trying to get down to pre-baby weight so i cringed a little at the thought of pasta with dinner. i remembered seeing some recipe somewhere for zucchini spaghetti, but i think they used a mandolin slicer, which i do not own because i'm terrified of them. i decided to just shred the largest squash i had in my food processor, and use that for 'noodles'. okay, i know that i have expressed before a simple wish for food to just be happy being what it is. no turkey bacon, no tofu sausage, just let your food keep it's identity and integrity, please. so, no, i'm not really pretending that shredded zucchini is pasta. i just treated it in a way that i would also treat pasta, not because i wished that it was pasta, but because i just love squash and i also love cream sauce. as to the dish in consideration, it was also pretty darn easy to make. heat a skillet to a medium high heat, divide one head of broccoli into florettes with long stems, throw them into the pan dry, let them sit and start to sear. while the broccoli is browning (don't stir it) slice one yellow bell pepper into fairly thin slices, then cut the slices in half. remember the rule about being able to gracefully get your food into your mouth. add the peppers to the pan, let cook for just long enough for them to start to sweat with out stirring, then reduce the heat to medium and add about three table spoons of butter. once the butter is melted, but still creamy, add the shredded zucchs. salt and pepper to taste, and add a few shakes of nutmeg. ever wondered what made alfredo taste like alfredo and not just parmesan cheese? nutmeg. it's actually lovely in pretty much any cream sauce. let the squash get hot and shake in a generous amount of parmesan cheese then pour between 1/2 and 3/4 of a cup of half and half over and stir. simmer for a few minutes until the sauce just starts to thicken and pull it off before the squash gets too mushy. super good! we had ours with baked chicken, but i think actually grilled chicken sliced up and tossed in there would be better. you could also use this as a sauce and serve it over pasta, but i'm trying to avoid bread stuffs after 4 as a weight loss tip from my brother the trainer. it's working, by the way i've only got about 8 pounds to go to my first goal, and another 10 after that for my ultimate goal. (i broke it up so it wouldn't seem so daunting) anyway, please try this! don't give away squash, or let it go bad, dress it up in pasta's clothing! also, if any one at all actually reads these things, give a comment to let me know what you think.

what is bok choy anyway?

so, what is that stuff hiding in your "chicken and assorted vegetables" that tastes a bit like radish and a bit like, well, water? it's bok choy my friend and you should become better acquainted. in the store it looks a bit like a rhubarb ran off with a swiss chard, bright white stalks and dark greens. in the wok i've learned to divide and conquer, slice it all up, separate the stalk from the leaves. add the stalks first with your other veggies that require a bit more cooking and the leaves at the end, when everything else is almost done. it's great with ginger, the radishy taste really likes fresh ginger for some reason, and it's good all by it's self or with a mixed stir fry. then there's our little buddy, baby bok choy. to tell the truth it's almost a completely different veggie, small bright spring green bundles of tender leaves. my favorite thing to do with a baby bok choy is cut it in half length wise and sear it on my griddle with a smidge of oil and a sprinkle of salt. fresh ginger would not go amiss here either, but i find it has plenty of flavor on it's own. just don't over cook it, big or baby, it becomes a somewhat slimy mess. this is not all that hard to avoid, keep an eye on the leaves, they should just start to wilt when it's done. so, steam some rice, pour some voinger, and enjoy!

vegetable modesty and nutrition

you may have noticed that i rarely write "peeled" carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. there is a reason for this. it is largely agreed that the bulk of the nutrients that make veggies so good for you are in the skins. also they add texture and flavor to what you're cooking, besides which by the time you're done dicing, cooking, and otherwise obliterating your ingredients, a littel carrot skin doesn't stand out. so, go a head let your veggies keep their clothes on, it'll serve you well. personally i like my mashed potatoes better when i leave the skin on about half of the potatoes during the cooking process, and so does my husband. for tougher items like tomato skin, dice the raw fruit smaller so the pieces that survive will be easier to deal with. go ahead and scrub your carrots, just be sure to leave the skin on, there's alot of good stuff in there. if you want to serve an extra pretty side dish of glazed carrots, go ahead and peel away, but remember you can save those peelings along with the tops and tips to make broth for soup. and by the way "baby" carrots are just chunks of big carrots that have been tumbled to remove the skin and soften the cut edges. it's a scam and a misnomer, don't let them fool you.

green onions: it's all good people

i love green onions, from their furry little eye watering feet to their crispy crunchy verdant tops. every bit of them is good. i'm tired of seeing one end or the other get the scrap-heap treatment! clean them, slice them, let them shine! the white part can be a bit strong, i admit. my solution: slice that end finely and add it at the beginning of the cooking process of what ever dish you are making, add the greens at the end so they retain their lovely crunch. or brazen it out, serve them raw all the way with dip or in salad. they're lovely grilled whole and plopped on top of bbq steaks, or sliced length wise in stir fry like multi colored noodles that bite back. to know them is to love them, every inch. you may want to invest in some gum, however.