Zucchini Fritters

It's starting again. The time of year where there's so much zucchini people don't know what to do with them.  I think I may add a zucchini tab in my cookbook so I know just where to go once they start rolling in each year. Daniel made these tonight. I'm terrible at frying anything so I gladly hand the apron over to him when the frying starts.

Ingredients

1 cup zucchini, grated

1 cup carrots, peeled and grated

2 T. onion, chopped

1/2 to 3/4 cup flour

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

1/8 t. seasoning salt

1/4 to 1/2 c. oil

Mix together all ingredients except oil; set aside. Heat oil in skillet; drop vegetable mixture into skillet by tablespoonfuls. Saute until golden and vegetables are tender. Serve Warm. Makes about 2 dozen.

Recipe from: Gooseberry Patchwork Potluck Edition.

Tortilla Soup

This is from California Herb Cookery, which is the cookbook put out by The Ranch House in Ojai, CA. My husband worked there for a time, and it remains one of our favorite restaurants.

He's been missing this soup ever since we moved away, and although we've been back often, they never seem to be serving the soup on the evening we're having dinner there! So I've decided to finally give it a try, and surprise, surprise, it was easier than I'd feared. I assembled the soup during Eddie's morning nap, and, since he is afraid of the blender, I will have to blend it after Matt gets home and can play with the baby while I'm making horrifying noises in the kitchen. :)

Saute until clear:

2 onions, chopped fine
4 ounces butter
2 teaspoons garlic, minced.

In a separate pan, simmer until tender, not mushy:
6 zucchini, coarsely chopped
2 quarts chicken broth

Then add:
3 vegetable bouillon cubes
10 corn tortillas

Combine all the above ingredients and blend until smooth, adding:
Salt to taste
Hot sauce to desired zip.

Serve hot with;
Chopped tomatoes
Sour cream
Crushed tortilla chips

And it's a GREAT use for ALL. THAT. ZUCCHINI that people are giving away these days! :P

Fast and Easy Veggie Skillet

I love summer food, especially the vegetables that are abundant and cheap. This is a little meal that I kind of pulled together at the last minute, but I had gone to the store that day and picked up all the vegetables. It's yummy and easy and you can basically use whatever vegetables you want. If you want you can even skip the pasta and add some grilled chicken or shrimp.

Easy Veggie Skillet

2-3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion (you can use the whole onion if you want)
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 box penne or rotini pasta
1/2-1 cup Parmesean cheese

Dice up all the vegetables and saute them (all except the tomatoes) in the oil for about 5 minutes until they're soft. Add the tomatoes toward the end of the 5 minutes. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and stir to coat the vegetables. Meanwhile cook pasta and drain. Preheat oven to 350. In a quart baking dish combine the cooked pasta and vegetables, sprinkle generously with Parmesean cheese (as much as you want) and stick it in the oven for about 20 minutes to warm everything up and melt the cheese.

My Introductory Post

I am so excited to be a new member here in the Barefoot Kitchen! With the weather here lately, I am MORE than happy to eschew shoes and socks while puttering around.
But I know that there are others out there still enjoying the winter weather, and maybe wouldn’t mind another soup recipe to keep them warm!

Potato Leek Soup, with Zucchini

Preparations:

Trim 2 leeks, slice the usable parts and wash them.
Slice 2 Stalks of Celery.
Wash, score (peel strips off of; don’t peel entirely) and slice 1 ½ pounds zucchini.
Wash, peel and slice 1 carrot.
Wash, peel and slice 1 potato.
Chop 2 tbs parsley
Prepare 2 chicken* stock cubes/packets in 3 ½ c. water

Assembly:

Heat 2 tbs margarine or butter or oil (your preference) in a non-stick saucepan. Add the vegetables, except the parsley, and stir fry. Cover pan and cook over medium for five minutes. Add the water/stock, and a dash or two of pepper, bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Stir in the parsley.

Allow to cool enough so that you can puree vegetables and liquid in a food processor. Return the puree to the saucepan, and add ½ c. plain yogurt**. Reheat gently, making sure not to boil.

Serve warm with a dash of cream.


I made this, along with two other creamy, veggie, nutritious soups, as a “Yay, you’re pregnant! (You must be starving, here, here’s some soup!)” gift for a friend. I allowed all three soups to cool completely, and then poured them into little canning jars (single servings! Convenient!) with pretty ribbon around them. Next, I’ll write out all three recipes on cute little cards and basket the whole thing up to deliver to her tomorrow!


(The Potato-Leek Soup is the one with the red ribbon. The others are Creamy Broccoli and Carrot Ginger.)







*Although this soup IS supposed to be served warm, I thought it might be kind of refreshing for me today as a chilled soup…and if I make it again this summer, to serve as a cold soup, I will use vegetable stock instead of the chicken, because cold soup made with chicken stock is a little…chicken-y. You know?

**Here’s where we get all substitute-y, because I forgot to buy plain yogurt: ½ c. sour cream went into MY batch!