Zucchini Pasta

I tried this dish for the first time a few weeks ago. I'm not a huge fan of regular pasta; I'll eat it but I won't seek it out if you know what I mean. I do love vegetables though so this was a perfect stand in dish for me. I've used zucchini before in place of pasta when I've made low carb lasagne. This was definitely a tasty addition to the low carb "pasta" repertoire. Have this dish in place of your normal pasta and serve with your own special pasta sauce.

Zucchini Pasta

2-3 large zucchini

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground sea salt and pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan

1. Using a vegetable peeler, cut the zucchini into lengthwise ribbons.

2. Cook the zucchini strips in two batches. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the zucchini ribbons and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook, tossing and stirring the zucchini, for two to three minutes, until softened and beginning to turn translucent. Adjust salt and add freshly ground pepper to taste, and transfer to a serving dish. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and zucchini.

Zucchini Pie

This was really nice and filling.  I used wholemeal flour instead of all-purpose flour. Recipe taken from myrecipes.com

3  cups  grated zucchini
1  small onion, chopped
1  cup  all-purpose flour
1  low fat cheese
3  eggs, beaten
1/4  cup  vegetable oil
4  tablespoons  grated Parmesan
2  teaspoons  chopped fresh basil
1  teaspoon  baking powder
1  teaspoon  salt

teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, reserving 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan. Spoon the zucchini mixture into a 10-inch round glass pie plate or metal pie pan that has been coated with vegetable cooking spray. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with the reserved Parmesan. Cool 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.

 

Voila:

Low Carb Lasagne

I love this recipe.  I originally got it off a fitness forum a couple of years ago and when I used to contest prep  for bodybuilding I must have eaten this at least once if not twice a week.  I like it best with zucchini but you can also make it with eggplant.  The method is the same for either vegetable.

Take 2-3 large zucchini and slice them lengthwise. Place on an oven tray. Grill zucchini in batches and set aside.

Chop up one small onion and in a non-stick skillet, cook in a little olive oil for 1-2 minutes. Add 400-500g of lean ground beef and cook until browned. Add 1 can of chopped tomatoes.  You can also use pasta sauce if you wish; I used "Italian Tomatoes" which is just canned chopped tomatoes with italian herbs (basil, oregano etc.)  Cook beef/tomato mixture until sauce is thick and bubbling.

Take 250g of low fat cottage cheese or ricotta cheese and blend until smooth.  You can also make a batch of Bechamel sauce if you wish instead.

In a greased pan layer zucchini, beef then cottage cheese.

Finish with a layer of zucchini and then add 100g of a mix of low fat cheese and parmesan.

Place in an oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until cheese has browned.

Voila!

Z is for Zucchini

I picked up quite a bit of zucchini at the store recently so over the next week I am going to post quite a few recipes using zucchini. It's funny, I remember HATING zucchini as a kid.  My mum used to add it to stews, stir frys etc. and I hated it!  It used to make my stomach feel nauseous but I'm pretty sure that was all in my head.  Now I really like eating it and cooking with it.  It's not a particularly nutritionally dense food; it's quite low in calories (21 calories per 100g) and contains decent amounts of Vit A, Vit C, Potassium and Manganese.  It's like eggplant; because it doesn't have much flavour itself, it takes on the flavour of whatever you cook it with.

Afternoon Tea

An Afternoon Tea party is the perfect excuse for me to try new recipes.  Today I invited a couple of family members to join us for Afternoon Tea. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have an abundance of oranges at the moment from my Mother's tree.  They tend to go bad faster than I can eat them so I decided to find a recipe where I could use the oranges.  I found one for Orange Almond cake and adapted it to suit my taste buds.  This cake is fantastic - great for those who are gluten intolerant, moist, filling and simple to make. It's only downfall is the preparation time; the oranges must be simmered for almost 90 minutes.

I also pulled out of my freezer some zucchini I had grated up earlier in the week before they also went bad. I had already decided to use it for a recipe I had found for Zucchini Loaf.  Since I have a sweet tooth, I thought lemon frosting would finish it off perfectly.

No afternoon tea is complete without some kind of sandwich so I threw together a simple open faced sandwich on ciabatta bread.  Herbed cream cheese and salmon team together well to make a delicious snack.

Zucchini Loaf with Lemon Frosting Spread

2 cups of grated zucchini

3 cups of flour

1 1/2 cups of white sugar

3 eggs

1 cup of oil (I used Macadamia Nut Oil)

1 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of baking powder

2 Tbsp of cinnamon

1 Tbsp of Vanilla bean paste (or pure extract)

 

Lemon Frosting Spread

2 cups of confectioner's sugar

4 Tbsp warm milk

1 Tbsp soft butter

2 tsp lemon extract or lemon juice

Sift sugar into a bowl and then add the rest of the ingredients.  Beat until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a loaf tin.  In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cinnamon and set aside.  In a large bowl beat together the oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla bean paste until smooth.  Stir in the zucchini until well mixed.  Stir in dry mixture with metal spoon until well mixed and then pour into the greased loaf tin.  Place in oven and bake for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let loaf cool before frosting.

Orange Cake

2 large oranges

300g caster sugar

200g ground almonds

6 eggs

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

Wash oranges well and place whole into a saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring water to boil then lower heat to a simmer.  Simmer whole oranges for 1-1 1/2 hours.  Let oranges cool and then drain water and place oranges into a food processor.  Blend till smooth.  Add in eggs, vanilla bean paste and lemon juice and blend.  In another bowl mix caster sugar, ground almonds and baking power.  Add orange mixture to dry mixture and fold with a metal spoon until well mixed.  Pour cake mixture into greased cake tin.  Place in oven and bake @ 350 Fahrenheit for 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Open Faced Smoked Salmon Sandwiches

1 fresh load of bread

1/2 pot of cream cheese

generous squeeze of lemon juice

sea salt

cracked pepper

fresh or dried dill

100g smoked salmon

Slice loaf of bread and set aside.  Mix cream cheese, salt, peper, lemon juice and dill until smooth.  Spread cream cheese over bread slices and top each slice with smoked salmon.  Serve immediately.